Gods and Monsters VI: Bad day at the office
by W.S.Ravensoul
Summary: The heartwarming story of a lost demon trying to get back home. Do Jack and Patricia have what it takes to survive Paradise Tower? Only time will tell. In this part of the series I will explore more of the demons side of things just as much as the protagonists. Nathaniel makes a comeback. Enjoy and please R&R. Finally complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own Silent Hill. Konami does. Right thats out of the way. Time to get the next story up. This is a longer one. Bit of a slow start but heats up nicely. Enjoy.

* * *

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 1: Paradise Tower

Patricia Heartwing tried concentrating on the road while fixing her hair. 'Where is it? I should've asked for directions back there.' A sign popped up for a multi-storey car park. 'Well I'm in the right city at least so I might as well park in the centre if the place is near the city hall.' She parked on the fourth floor of the nearly empty multi-storey car park so as not to get any scratches on her Mercedes. She swung her legs out of the car door and got out.

She was just short of 5' 9'' with bright red hair flowing halfway down her back in a ponytail. She wore a purple suit with matching bag and shoes, a white shirt and a pair of thin oval shaped designer glasses. She made sure that she had everything with her as she gathered her handbag and laptop. Once satisfied that she was ready she locked her large silver Mercedes and headed down to the ground floor, using the lift before looking for someone that she could ask for directions.

It was not long before she came across a small tourist information booth. The attendant was a spotty teenager with black spiky hair. He was dressed in a white shirt, black trousers and a dark blue blazer with a red stripe running down the left side of it. Patricia approached the bored attendant and set her bags down before attempting to talk to him.

"Welcome to West Fairbank home of the Fairbank Ferrets."

Patricia put her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide her sniggering.

The attendant wasn't amused, "How may I help you?"

Patricia took a small pocket diary from her jacket, "I'm looking for Paradise Tower. The only directions I have say that it's north of the Post Office near city hall." The attendant told her to bear with him as he rummaged about his booth for a map. Five minutes later he slapped a well-worn rag on the counter.

"What's this supposed to be?" Patricia asked as she prodded the dirty and slightly soggy piece of paper.

The attendant started to show their annoyance, "It's the last map of the city that's what it is. We haven't been getting many tourists lately and so no new supplies have been ordered. Whole tourism industry is downsizing. At least that's what they tell me before I get shipped to work in a Happy Burger. You just happened to come here on the last day of this booth's operation so that's all I have I'm afraid. Sorry."

Patricia took the map gratefully if even a little apprehensively, "umm thanks. I appreciate it."

The attendant tiredly rested his hands on the counter, "No problem. Have a nice day."

* * *

A man of about 5' 11" watched Patricia from across the road as he began munching on a bacon sandwich. He smiled in amusement as he saw her open up the large map and try to walk about with it. He wore a light grey suit with a light blue short-sleeved shirt. He had bright green eyes and light blonde hair mostly combed over to the left side. He leaned against the wall of the building near the fast food cart, enjoying his bacon sandwich. He shook his head while smiling as he saw Patricia nearly walk into a lamppost. He decided that he'd better go and help her: after he finished breakfast.

She suddenly swerved to avoid walking into someone on the sidewalk and failed to realise that she had walked out into the road. He had no idea where the truck came from but suddenly it was there and the clumsy tourist seemed oblivious to her impending doom. The man dropped his sandwich, sprinted across the road and dived, sending Patricia flying back onto the pavement just before the large eighteen-wheeler nearly flattened her. Neither of them noticed the sign on the side of the white truck as it sped by. The sign was printed in large blue letters; it read "Corn and Cobb Construction Company." Underneath the sign was a small logo it was a blue letter "C" with a small red "4" printed inside it.

The driver showed signs of sleeplessness from his expression. His eyes were bloodshot and jerking around in different directions, desperately searching for something. If someone were in the cab at that moment they would have become slightly disturbed by the drivers frantic mumblings.

"Damn. This thing is on the fritz again. I keep telling them transporting multi-dimensional materials is too risky. I'm lucky this thing didn't take the road out from under me like last time. Must find the Son; he will know what to do. Gotta build his temple, his masterpiece or it's back to hell I go. I will not, cannot go back there. Soon be free again, free to live in this world." Large clouds of dust escaped from the back of the truck due to the materials on board, leaving Patricia and her supposed saviour choking on the ground before completely disappearing from sight again.

Patricia shoved the stranger away from her, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He looked at her strangely "Huh some way to thank me. You…"

She cut him off, "Thank you? You might have just ruined a brand new $6000 suit not to mention possible damage to my laptop."

He went on the offensive, "Well excuse me all to hell for saving your life and ruining your good suit," he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

Patricia looked at him as if he was speaking gibberish, "Are you crazy? The road was clear. Look the traffic is still waiting at the red light down the road."

The man couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Yes I suppose the road was clear…except for the eighteen wheeler that nearly ran you over. You mean to say that you didn't see it?"

Patricia shook her head "No. I didn't hear it either. Mister I think you had better switch to decaf. By the way what's your name?"

He got up and dusted himself down before offering her his hand to help her up, "Jack Keller's the name. Why do you ask?"

She gave him a sly look as she took his hand and got up, "I want to know who to bill the replacement suit to. Do you have an address I can forward it onto?"

Jack's blood boiled, "Listen lady…"

Patricia's lip curled when Jack addressed her as lady, it made her feel old, "The name is Patricia Heartwing."

Jack gave her a look that said 'as if I care.' "Well Patricia," he said the name with venom, "I ain't ever paid someone to save their life and I don't intend to start now. You get my drift?"

Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere her need to get to the presentation became a higher priority than arguing with this moron. "All right I won't bill you but could you at least tell me where Paradise Tower is?"

It was obvious from his face that Jack didn't like where this conversation was going. "I suppose I could if you told me why you're going there."

Patricia was getting fed up with this 'No time. I'll be late for the presentation at this rate and I can't afford to get in trouble again'. "Erm sure. Lets walk and talk at the same time."

Jack shrugged; he looked apathetic "Sure. Why not? It's just a couple of blocks away. Let's go." Patricia's feet hurt as she tried to keep up with Jack. Her heels were no match for his sneakers. "So why are you here again?"

The shadow of a large office building loomed ominously above them, hiding Patricia's frustration. "I'm here to give a series of presentations to some life insurance company based in Paradise Tower."

Jack became nosey "What's it on?" T

hey turned a corner "Health and safety in the workplace."

Jack laughed "Well good luck with that."

Patricia scowled at him "Thanks to you I'll need it. I only hope that you haven't damaged my laptop with your little stunt." Jack ignored her comments and decided to try and shut her up by offering her a stick of spearmint gum.

Much to Jack's disappointment she declined and kept talking to him. "So where do you work?"

Jack sighed "Paradise Tower" he muttered.

"What?" Patricia raised her voice.

"Paradise Tower," he repeated himself "I work for Godspell Architects on the sixth floor."

She mentally swept her brow "Right well I'm talking to a bunch of folks in Chainey and Lee Life Insurance."

Jack nodded "Yeah I know em. They're on the fifth floor." 'Might see her again today. Might as well make peace,' "Hey umm no hard feelings about earlier?"

Patricia smirked "I suppose my pride will heal with a little time. Sorry I bit your head off. Just be a bit more careful next time you go off to save the world."

Jack bit his tongue 'She still thinks that I'm crazy. Never mind, just hold back. You don't need any more grudges. Your life is hard enough at the minute. No need to make it any worse. "I guess I'll try and restrain myself in the future. Anyway we're here now. Look there's the side of the tower. You're going to have to watch yourself, there's building work going on up top. I think that they're adding a thirteenth floor onto the place."

Patricia turned to him "You're not going in?"

Jack shook his head "No. I'm going to get a coffee. Good luck and enjoy yourself."

He shook Patricia's hand she responded "Gee thanks, you too."

They went their separate ways; Jack to the coffee shop and Patricia to the front of the office building.

* * *

Patricia gasped at the ornate designs and beautiful craftsmanship of the masonry. It was as if the building was originally intended to be a piece of art instead of an office building. The front door was a mixture of waterfalls made of marble falling, swirling and winding around two large granite trees, which were placed either side of the large stained glass revolving doors. The doors depicted a different scene of paradise on each pane of glass. Patricia stood there for a moment watching the beautiful scenes go round. Bright swirling colours showed scenes of feasts, immortality and love. One showed flames of beautiful hues of reds, oranges and yellows keeping death and all the evil in the world at bay while those inside the flames enjoyed paradise. The slow moving pace of the doors made the flames seem to flicker. 'Wow' Patricia thought as she walked through the door. Her mind reeled as her senses were bombarded on all sides by beautiful works of art.

The lobby consisted of a plush red carpet with gold and silver patterns woven into the sea of red. There was a large wooden desk with a security guard sitting behind it near the right wall. The desk was made of mahogany and was carved with depictions of a pack of horses running from a lone rider holding a spear. Strangely it looked like the rider was part of the horse. Much like a centaur of Greek legend however the lone hunter was more hideous with a second mouth in the midriff. He was herding the horses into a spider's web. The web was made of pure silver and glimmered faintly in the light of the large crystal chandelier that dominated the ceiling. Patricia looked closer at the web and barely saw the spider made of obsidian that seemed to suck in the light that tried to shine around it.

The security guard was attired in a brown and gold uniform with a shining name badge that identified him as one David Zann. He looked quite old with white, wizened hair surrounding an ever increasing bald patch. Though it was obvious to see that he made an effort to take care of his appearance. He appeared to be furiously shining a gold pocket watch when Patricia noticed him. He only noticed her presence and made an effort to look up at her when her reflection appeared in the watch.

"Hello Miss. Welcome to Paradise Tower where work is a joy and no cost is too great to bring you happiness. How may I help you?"

She took her time answering him, as the huge gold-framed painting placed above the security guard captured her attention. It was a portrait of a wise old man. He was sharply dressed in a black suit and carried a black wood cane with a silver wolf's head and a silver tip. He was standing on a forest path that led down to a beautiful glassy, blue lake. Just looking at the view behind him made her feel peaceful.

"Ahem" the security guard coughed politely. He was well aware of the painting's alluring qualities.

An embarrassed Patricia snapped back to reality. "Oh yes sorry. I'm here to give a series of talks to Chainey and Lee insurance."

The security guard pointed to a door at the top right corner of the hall, "Fifth floor there madam. The stairs are to your right. I'm afraid the lifts are out of order at this time."

Patricia thanked the security guard and made her way to the door. Still gaping around her at the works of art and the chandelier she noticed that the outer rim of the piece was speckled with bright coloured jewels such as topaz, amber, rubies and emeralds. With all her gazing at the different works of art Patricia nearly walked into the stairway doors before going in. 'My God. Even the stairwell is fancy.'

The stairs were black marble with green creeping vines painted up either side of them. The marble was covered with two layers of what appeared to be thick glass, a constant stream of water ran between the glass making it seem that the stairs were a giant, winding waterfall. Small plastic shrubs and trees laden with spray painted fruit and stuffed exotic wildlife littered the stairways platforms on each floor. Patricia liked it; it took her mind off how many stairs she still had to climb with her bag and laptop weighing her down.

* * *

Jack exited the coffee shop with a hot cappuccino in a Styrofoam cup and a large satisfied smile on his face. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long, hard day, 'Might as well stock up on the rocket fuel before I go in.'

As he walked back to the office he noticed the eighteen wheeler parked around the back of his building. 'Scratch that. This is going to be a _very _long day.' He walked over to the truck intent on giving the driver a piece of his mind and quite possibly his fist. He found no one there and the truck empty. He looked at his coffee and downed it in one gulp. 'I think I'm going to need something stronger before this day's over.'

He entered the building, ignoring the exquisite art, he was used to it. "Hey Dave. How's it going?"

The guard looked up and smiled, showing that he had a couple of golden teeth with clock hands inscribed on them, "Not too bad friend."

Jack smiled back "Still holding the fort I see. Where's Jimmy today?"

David scratched the back of his balding head, "Oh I expect he's off enjoying himself somewheres. Anyways if you'll excuse me I think its time that I headed out to the garage." He checked his gold pocket watch. Jack shielded his eyes as its reflection gleamed off the chandelier. "Oh by the way the postman left something for you."

Jack thanked Mr Zann and took a large cardboard tube off him. He shook it "Must be the Desmond's asking for more revisions. Huh a few lines wrong and the idiots want to tear down the building."

David sniggered "Ah well. You'll get it right some day Jack. Just remember that nothing good comes easy."

Jack turned round "Thanks Dave. I'll try to remember tha…" David had disappeared. 'Must be away to the garage. Oh well another day, another dollar. God I hate Monday's.' Jack thought as he started the long trek up to his office.

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Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please let me know what you think of it.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	2. Chapter 2

Just this chapter to go and it all starts to kick off. Bear with it. This is actually the story I had the most fun writing out of this series so far. Hope you enjoy reading it.

* * *

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 2: When's Lunch? 

Hugo Sorenson removed an out of order sign and clambered into the service lift. His stubby finger shook as he hit the button to take him to the thirteenth floor. He slammed the lift cage gate shut. His breathing was heavy underneath his large white dust mask. As the lift ascended at an accelerated rate he started to feel quite dizzy. He slumped against the back of the lift and watched the floors go past. As he passed the last couple of floors he noticed a pair of bright green eyes in the reflection watching him from behind. He knew there would be no one there when he turned around but it still creeped him out. He was getting used to little things like that now ever since… the event. He had a permanent five o'clock shadow and had recently developed a slight twitch. There was also the slight problem of half his face hanging loosely off his skull. However in Hugo's opinion he had bigger problems.

The elevator slowly came to a stop. Hugo opened the cage with a bit of difficulty. It wasn't that the door was stiff; it was more the fact that his arm was weaker than it used to be when he was alive. The door opened to reveal a nearly completely bare room. At each corner was a steel support beam that was high enough to build another floor on. The black marble staircase entered at the middle of the room and started to spiral. It reached above the clouds, Hugo didn't care though; all that mattered to him was his freedom from this servitude of pain. Once this building was complete then he would be free to die properly like a normal person. A large throne-like chair sat near the stairs. It had a golden coloured wooden frame with red leather. The chair's occupant sat staring at the lift with an expectant look on his face.

The man in the chair sat with his head resting in his left hand. He looked quite old and slightly vacant as if he had lost a good portion of wisdom in recent years. It was obvious that he was well read from all the lines on his forehead. He had a full head of white hair, which looked uncared for. He wore a sharp black pinstripe suit with a white shirt and black tie. The only thing unnatural about this man was his eyes. They were bright green and piercing, though that was no problem. The problem became more apparent when he stared at you for a period of time. It looked as if there was something else peeping from behind those eyes, something that Hugo didn't ever want to see manifest itself.

The man sat forward in his chair when Hugo walked into the room, his eyes twinkling. "Well did you recover it or am I to wait yet another month?"

Hugo stood ridged, fidgeting with his fingers until one fell off. "Umm no Mr Cobb sir. No more waiting. We got it this time. We were lucky though. Even with their forces at their weakest that place really didn't want to let this go."

Mr Cobb grew impatient "Well then where is it? I don't happen to see it in front of me at the moment."

Hugo took in the beautiful view of the city "It's in the back of the truck. It has to stay there until the crane gets here. I must warn you it's a bit glitchy. I think something damaged it. If I knew better I'd say something big was chewing on it. Thankfully I didn't encounter anything that big. Anyway the crane should be here soon so you can see for yourself once it gets up here." Hugo's finger rolled towards Cobb who stopped it rolling with his foot. The old man grunted as he bent down to scoop it up in his bony fingers. He slowly got back up to sit up straight in his chair. He tossed the finger back to Hugo who caught it with his good hand and dropped the finger into the pocket of his jacket so that he could sew it back on later. "Thanks sir."

Cobb nodded with a smile "No trouble. Go and see to the installation and I will be down shortly to oversee its modification."

Hugo bowed and quickly made his way back to the lift, "Yes sir. Right away sir. Give my best wishes to the Son won't you?"

Cobb returned an overly toothy smile "You have my word. Now go."

Happy that the Son knew of his efforts he left to oversee the installation of his slightly chewed cargo hoping that no more abysses had accidentally appeared. In his opinion most of it was only fit for scrap metal. 'Who knows what they'll turn it into. They've worked miracles with this place considering the quality of materials that have been brought in for them to work with, but then they don't have any ordinary work force.' Hugo closed the lift cage and watched Cobb slowly disappear as the lift descended.

As soon as the lift was gone Cobb went to one of the support beams and turned one of the bolts. Suddenly a large white door appeared just outside the edge of the roof. Red light escaped from the cracks in the door as Cobb reached out for the grubby, round handle. He gently knocked on the door before turning the handle and going through. The door disappeared from sight again whenever it was fully closed.

* * *

Patricia sipped coffee from a Styrofoam cup. She found it hard to swallow as the lukewarm liquid trickled down her throat but she knew that she needed the caffeine. She was thankful that it was nearly lunch as the talks had been long and tiresome. So tiresome in fact that she had caught some of the workers snoozing on several occasions (this normally happened while the demonstration video was being played.) She had tried to make it as interesting as possible but when you have a subject like health and safety it's like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

She looked out of the steamy window while pouring herself a fresh cup of coffee. The city looked dreary as it was starting to rain. Everything looked so dull, grey and lifeless. Calling this place a city was a bad joke that Patricia didn't get. The people walking down the street with their high priced suits and fashions, not to mention their flashy accessories, all looked so sad. Any happiness displayed here was as painted on as the makeup on the pathetic gold diggers standing near the most expensive parked cars in the desperate hope of picking up a decent catch. She took a sip of her coffee; at least it was warm this time.

This place was dead, nothing like the hustle and bustle life of New Downshire. It made her thankful that she lived in the civilised world and not this little city that seemed to be barely affected by time or technology. It made her wonder what a building like this was doing here.

A knock on the door broke her concentration. She looked in the doors direction "Sorry if I'm interrupting but could you tell me if this is the place for the talk?" She nodded wearily and waved her free hand in the direction of the rows of seats. A few people walked in and took their seats 'Man I'll be glad when this day is over.' Patricia thought. She continued sipping her coffee while waiting for the rest of the officer zombies to arrive.

* * *

Jack absently scanned the plans for a new apartment block on Dinsworth Street while listening to a client complain about waiting so long for planning permission and how they couldn't understand what the big fuss was all about. Jack tried to tell them that the problem wasn't with the drawings but rather that the site was a graveyard last year and also fell under a conservation area. So not only was the city council against this but the church that couldn't afford to keep the land anymore and the general public were also up in arms about the suggested development. However it seemed that the client had a hole running straight through their head so that information could pass right through one ear and out the other.

Jack tried to stop himself laughing as his college was making funny faces in an attempt to voiceover the boring drivel that was coming down the other side of the line. "Sir can I call you back? I'm afraid something really urgent has come up. Great, thank you, speak later, bye." He slammed the phone down. "Oh my God. How can one man be so annoying and yet still be alive or at least not be afflicted with some sort of devastating curse?"

The man on the other side of the desk made a weird, sinister looking face, "I don't know about curses but the other can certainly be arranged."

Jack laughed, "Wise up Gary. That was Hurricane Henry on the phone. You know that its idiots like him that keeps us in this business."

Gary shook his head "Aww don't worry about that asshole. There's plenty more like him. What was the urgent thing that came up?"

Jack ducked down and retrieved a plastic bag from his bottom drawer and placed it on his desk, "Lunch. I'm starving and I never bother to argue on an empty stomach. I need the energy to put up with these people first."

Gary laughed and bit into a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich, spilling sauce onto his white shirt, "Shit that's the second shirt today. Tyler bombarded the first with baby food this morning. Jackie is going to have a fit."

A crackling came over the building's PA system. "Attention all floors. Attention all floors. There will soon be a testing of the fire alarm followed by the bomb alert signal. No action is necessary. Thank you." The message was repeated before the weekly fire drill began. Jack covered his ears he hated the shrill noise of the fire alarm bell, it reminded him too much of school. He cupped his hands over his ears and the noise was almost completely drowned out

* * *

Eric Livingston was asked to move some pretty weird stuff to some pretty weird places but this job took the biscuit. It seemed that he had to haul an old damaged boiler up to the thirteenth floor of this brand new, beautiful building. He had been a crane operator all his life and had never been asked to haul anything as out of place as this. Although he was very intrigued he was also very cautious about this job. There was just something not quite right about it. At one point he could have sworn the city went dark for two seconds. Normally he would have put it down to a cloud but the sky was already cloudy so nothing should have made it darker. Trick of the light maybe. Even if it was it didn't explain why there was a hole in the ground underneath the boiler about the size of a tennis ball. He got out and shone a torch down it. He couldn't see the bottom. Even when he dropped a stone down he never heard it hit the bottom. Something told him a little bit of concrete wouldn't solve the problem.

He worked as fast as he could so that he could get out of there. There was a niggling feeling at the back of his mind telling him to get as far away as possible from this place while he still could. That feeling had gotten worse when he had started talking to the foreman for this operation. His name was Hugh…Henry…Eric couldn't remember; all he knew was that the guy gave him the creeps. It was his eyes, they were cold and dead looking; that and most of his face was covered in stitches.

Hugo directed the crane driver. He hoped to God that the guy wouldn't make any mistakes, as he looked very nervous. That was the trouble with hiring outside help they always feared what they couldn't understand and when they were afraid they had a higher risk of making mistakes. The price paid for such mistakes was too high for Hugo to let them happen. The boiler swayed as a gust of wind caught it. Hugo started to sweat blood as the stitches came loose. He was relieved to find that the crane driver he hired was a competent one as Eric quickly swung the boiler away until it came back under control. Once it was on the concrete of the thirteenth floor and the rest of the parts transported then he packed up as quickly as he could, made sure he got paid and drove away as fast as possible.

* * *

A large grin spread across the face of Cornelius Cobb as he looked at the rusty, old boiler. His attention was diverted by footsteps coming down the black, marble steps.

"I take it from the stupid grin on your face that it has finally arrived?" The low voice came from a middle-aged man in his fifties. He wore a blue suit with a shiny blue shirt. A pair of blue-tinted sunglasses obscured his eyes from outsiders. He had slicked back black hair with streaks of grey and white running through it. He was cool in appearance and temperament.

Cornelius kept his smile "Indeed it has Robert and not before time either. I take it you are ready to work you're magic before I call Nathan to begin the ceremony." Suddenly out of nowhere two rod's appeared in Robert Corn's hands. In the left hand was a glass rod and in the right hand lay a gnarled and twisted wooden rod. Cobb rolled his eyes "Show off."

Corn chuckled "Let's begin."

He finished his descent and opened the door to nowhere. The red light funnelled into the glass rod and gathered at its tip. The fog that came through the door gently made its way to Corns right arm and tightly wound itself around his arm and gathered at the tip. Corn raised the rods as if he were about to conduct an orchestra. He began humming and waving the rods about in a strange pattern. The metal began to move when the red light surrounded it and then change shape when the fog wrapped around it.

Soon it was a beautiful piece of art in the form of two praying sinners facing each other. Both were made of gleaming bronze and each had jewels set into the eyes. One was beautiful and had eyes made from pearl the other was deformed so that human traits were harder to recognise. The deformed one had no nose or lips and had large black and red scars all over her body, made of marble and ruby. Her eyes were made of obsidian and her face was full of hate. The other had an angelic countenance. In between them was a large red lever with symbols at either position. Pushing the lever up set it to a Holy cross symbol, pulling it down set it to another stranger symbol. It was a large snake coming through a gateway down to rest on some land. The snake was inside a pyramid and the pyramid was inside a circle.

Cobb applauded Corn "Excellent work as always Robert. I'll go and get the boy."

He opened the old white door and went on through. It was a while before Cobb returned. "He's coming in a minute. He's working on a new creation. It looks like you're having some sort of influence on my son."

Robert made a flourishing gesture with his glass wand and gave a small smile, "Can I help it if the boy has taste?"

Cobb dusted his shoulder "Ahem, yes. Well it seems that on top of creativity he has inherited a good cruel streak from his father. This new project looks truly hideous. Enough to make a man go insane at the sight of it."

Cornelius was very proud of his adopted son. He had seen all of the boy's pet projects but this latest one was undoubtedly his best work. There was a creaking before the white door opened. A large shadow filled the red light that was spilling from the doorway. Screams echoed in the distance as the shadow became smaller. The tapping of small shoes became louder. Soon a small boy of about eight years old was standing in the doorway. He had short blonde hair and a malignant look to his face. His spine seemed to protrude a little on the skin of his back making it look like he had a small row of spikes growing out of his back. There were also two protruding bones coming out of each wrist. They were both sharpened to a point and made for makeshift scalpel blades. He retracted them when he was sure the room was safe, he knew that he was vulnerable in the real world.

He looked around to see Corn and Cobb standing there with expectant looks on both their faces. "I take it that we're ready to start now?"

Cornelius nodded "Happy ninth Birthday Nathaniel! Time to open you're present. Your very own paradise. All you need do is throw that lever and the festivities can begin."

The child's face beamed with uncontrollable joy. "Finally I can play wherever I want. Thanks Dad."

The child ran over and hugged Cornelius "Thanks Uncle Robert. I know the boiler was your work; the design is unmistakeably contrasted within itself. It's so you. I love it."

Corn smiled "You're welcome Nate. Just be careful you don't break it. This quality of material was real hard to come by. Apart from that enjoy it. I really think you're going to love this world. There's so much your father and I have to teach and show you before we can go about freeing your mother. By that time this world will be firmly under your control." All these promises made the child ecstatic. He quickly ran to the lever.

"Make a wish son" Cornelius called. The fire alarm sounded. Nathaniel closed his eyes and pulled on the lever.

As soon as this was done the trickling water flowing from the top of the stairs became blood. The empty room changed to that of a palatial throne room. As the blood flowed down the stairs the other rooms also began to change. The sound of the fire alarm became distorted and warped to sound like air raid sirens. Nathaniel gasped at the dramatic changes that were taking place. He had missed the power so much. Both Cornelius and Robert wished Nathaniel a happy birthday before opening the white door to start bringing in the party guests. Nathaniel had a wide grin on his face 'This is going to be the best birthday ever.' He ran through the white door to go and help with the party preparations. He had a few surprising party tricks to show his friends this year.

* * *

That's it for this chapter. Hope you liked it. Let me know if there's anything that needs fixing.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	3. Chapter 3

Now things will start to heat up. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks to those who have been reading through the series so far.

* * *

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 3: Mightier than the sword

Patricia was mind numbingly bored. She had been subjected to displaying the same video for the sixth time. "Health, Safety and you…saving the office." 'The company that produced this trash should be charged with manslaughter. I can see at least two people that seemed to have died from boredom,' she mused. Even with the white venetian blinds closed she could still make out a few heads nodding as the workers struggled to stay awake.

Somewhere close a fire bell rang. 'Great a chance to escape this place for a couple of seconds. This is exactly what I needed.' She stopped the video and went to open the blinds. She was surprised to find that it was still dark. 'I'm sure it wasn't that dark a moment ago.' Patricia walked to the front of the room in order to address the group,

"OK everyone I'm sure it's just a drill. Make your way calmly and safely to the nearest fire exit. Just like in the video." There were no signs of movement from the group. The sound of the fire bell became distorted. Patricia went to switch the lights on. The fluorescent tubes above flickered with a pale light. It appeared that the entire group had fallen asleep. Patricia approached one of the people nearer the back of the room. "Hello? Sir?"

* * *

Jack was trying to concentrate on the bright screen full of drawing parameters in front of him. His actions were in vain as all he could think about was food.

"Hey Gary can you keep that munching down man. My stomachs growling louder than Dave on a night out."

Gary laughed and made sure to eat as loud as he could.

Jack laughed "Asshole. Cut it out man. C'mon gimme a break."

Gary looked from behind the screen and grinned. "Yeah, yeah. OK I was just messin with ya."

Jack shook his head. The sound of eating could still be heard. As Jack was about to save his work the fire bell sounded and startled him causing him to delete all his work instead. "Shit. What's that doing on again? They just tested that thing." The sound of the bell warped and became like that of an air raid siren.

"SQUELCH" The sound of something moist and squishy being chewed on came from behind the screen. Jack wondered what the hell was going on. His attention was soon diverted by another sound when the siren died down. "SQUELCH," flecks of red liquid sprayed over the screen and Jacks face.

Jack frowned "Damn it Gary what are you a baby? I thought I told you to cut that…" A soulless moan was uttered from the other side of the screen.

* * *

Patricia recoiled at the touch of the man's shoulder. It was as if the skin on his shoulder was loosely hanging on the bone. Her first instinct was not to get to close to these people as they might have some sort of disease. Her second thought was that they could be dead so she walked over to one of the corners near the windows and picked up a pole that was used to open the higher level windows. She prodded the nearest person. She looked like she was in her late fifties with short blonde hair and a pair of large oval black rimmed glasses. She wore a white top and blue denim skirt. Her face sagged as if it was ready to peel off at the slightest touch.

Patricia got no response from prodding the woman and was about to move onto the next person when a loud, muffled "CRACK" was heard from the blonde woman's body. A series of quieter cracks were heard and upon closer investigation something was moving underneath the woman's skin. It was a slow, creepy movement sending skin from one part of her head to another. Patricia threw up as she made out the shape of a small foot pushing at the skin. "Crack, crack, CRACK," her head now had a large white point sticking out. Blood flowed from the wound and matted in her blonde hair. A small grey hand punched the white bone apart further and a high pitched screech could be heard that sounded like a combination of a cat screeching and a baby crying. The sound made Patricia shudder as she started to make her way to the other side of the room.

Patricia moved slowly so as not to attract the grotesque little creature's attention, for fear of the thing doubling its efforts to come after her. The woman's skull was now completely split and showed a gap large enough to fit a melon through. A small white tail with a sharp barb on the end poked itself out of the hole and then proceeded to stab the woman in the back, it was closely followed by two small grey hands that grabbed her skull for leverage to hoist itself up.

Patricia threw caution to the wind; it was obvious that stealth wasn't going to work. She reached the door within two seconds and nearly broke the handle in an effort to get out. To her horror the door wouldn't budge. A screech signalled that the monster had broken free of its fleshy prison. It had a small grey body with no features whatsoever to distinguish the sex of the monster. A small red, veiny face with bright blue eyes and moist blue/grey lips smiled with a mouthful of wickedly sharp teeth. The back of its head was covered in protruding bony spikes like a hedgehog. There were large claws coming out of its tiny feet. 'What the hell is that thing?' Before Patricia could think of a possible answer her train of thought was broken by the sound of loud communal cracking. Screeches could be heard from the other bodies in the room. Patricia held in a scream and tried even harder to get the door open.

* * *

Jack was frozen in his seat. He was staring face to face with a creature that couldn't possibly exist. It's skin had the normal fleshy colour of his late friend Gary. It was completely hairless and had a dull gleam to the skin when the light reflected off of it, as if the thing was coated thinly in some kind of mucous. The main thing that Jack noticed about the face was that it was missing a nose. It's soulless; coal black eyes were found where human's cheeks would be.

There were no teeth in its mouth. In fact the opening in the middle of its face didn't resemble a mouth at all but was closer to a closed fist. A large spike of bone that must have been its tongue repeatedly stabbed the dripping red mound of flesh that was in its mouth. It was then that Jack realised what this thing was devouring: it was a human heart.

Jack did not wait to see what the rest of the thing looked like. He grabbed his monitor and slammed it as hard as he could over the things head. The screen landed with a satisfying _squelch_, Jack wiped his forehead happy to have won his first fight in this crazy nightmare without even having to fight. A hollow whistling sound was heard from under the monitor as blood dripped over the desk. 'Shit that things still alive.' In disbelief Jack watched the grizzly decapitated thing rise from the desk and proceed to stand up to it's full height of at least seven feet. The thing whistled louder in a vain attempt to roar, spraying blood everywhere.

Jack now saw the creature in its full glory. It was twisted in form as the ribcage was back to front, yet the arms and legs were contorted so that they faced forward. It was if the creature were a play dough figure made by a three-year-old. The left hand was on the right and vice versa. Its bones clicked as it moved awkwardly towards Jack. Jack tried to back away but to no avail as the thing steadily advanced towards him. Jack dived through the things legs narrowly missing getting captured. 'Gotta kill this thing quick. What can I use here?' Jack searched desperately for a weapon. Finding nothing he bolted for the door. The creature turned to face his direction. He could smell the rancid flesh of the thing breathing down his neck. 'How does it know where I am?'

Jack picked up a bin near an empty desk and jammed it over the things hollow neck. He knew he could only buy so much time without a substantial weapon to use. He threw a printer at the creature and picked up the small table in the desperate hope that he could pin it in. The creature tripped over a chair while trying to make its way to him. Jack took the opportunity to slam the metal table legs into the creature's flesh, sending up a brown coloured liquid. Some of which landed in Jacks mouth. He spat it out and retched in disgust. He recognised the taste and it had been about five years since he had tasted it. Jack jumped onto the table, using it for a stepping stone to get to the door. He breathed in the stale air of the staircase with relief of his escape before retching again to get the taste out.

Vomit mixed with the blood flowing down the staircase towards the ground floor to where it landed at a long slimy purple coloured tentacle, which sucked the vile concoction right up. A dark laughter floated up the staircase encouraging Jack to move to a different floor. 'Who knows there may be some more survivors. Then we can get out of this hellhole together. I don't think I can take on another one of those monsters by myself.

* * *

Patricia now held a chair and was fending off a small army of the monsters that until recently had occupied the skulls of the other people in the room. She had no time to think if the people that came in were even human or if they had been vessels for these unholy creatures from the start. Patricia's main concern at the moment was to get her hands on a decent weapon to fight these little terrors. 'Has the whole world gone to hell or have I just gone mad?'

One of the creatures made a sound that both freaked her out and stopped her train of thought dead in its tracks, "Mama."

She looked closer at the monster that had uttered the word. 'The eyes. There's something about the eyes…' She screamed as one of them latched onto her leg, the tail stabbing at her foot. "Oww. Bastard!"

She kicked the little creature off her. More decided that they would also try to bring her down. She grabbed the chair tightly and swung it at them, taking five out as they leapt at her in unison. Small spatters of purple blood sprayed across the projection screen. One of the things landed on the desk with her laptop and free gifts on it. Among these was a large tin of pens and pencils. The creature skidded across the desk as it flew across the room, taking the stationary with it. A small spine-tingling scream was heard coming from where the creature landed on the other side of the desk.

Patricia rushed to the other side of the desk to see what had killed it. The small evil being lay writhing in pain on the carpet, purple blood seeping from its back. A pen was sticking out of one of its hateful little eyes. At that point an idea popped into Patricia's head. "The pen is mightier than the sword huh? Well I suppose I'll soon find out."

She saw the spikes up its spine had folded upon its death. Surprise took her when the last folded in at the top to slowly reveal a barcode. She quickly bent down to inspect it. There was no mistaking the brand. It was definitely a barcode and in small letters underneath was the word Spinefant. "No way. Someone made these things?"

She didn't have any more time to think as more came for her. She grabbed a pen from the floor and stood up again. Clutching the chair as a shield Patricia proceeded to grab at their tails. Pinning one down with her foot she stabbed at the Spinefant's head with the pen. Eventually a shrill cry and a satisfying crunch of a skull caving in due to pressure let her know that she had killed another one. She was surprised how easy they were to kill considering how tough they looked. Even at that she knew she was still outnumbered.

'Got to be a quicker way to do this.' At that moment she tripped over one of the dead bodies and noticed something shining from inside the corpse's skull. Continually swiping at the things she quickly stuck her arm inside the skull recoiling as she felt something warm and gooey move inside.

She watched in awe as a small, slick, gore encrusted snake emerged from the black hole that was up until recently someone's head. It looked like the person's spine had become a small creature within itself. The head was made up of what used to be the person's brain. From time to time it opened up to reveal a row of sharp teeth and a key nestled inside, resting on the spongy wet tongue of the creature as if it were daring her to take it. Patricia tried beating the weird and disturbing creature repeatedly but to no avail. With Spinefants swarming around her and the snake holding the only key out of the room Patricia felt a sense of hopelessness creep up on her. She dodged as one of the Spinefants lunged for her face, its claws outstretched to scratch her eyes out. The thing whizzed by her head, scratching her cheek and let out a short, sharp screech as the snake opened it's jaws to cleanly snap the little creature in half, spraying Patricia with purple blood. Far from being disgusted Patricia was relieved to see a way out of this. She threw the chair to the side and began to furiously snatch at the little monster's tails, flinging the creatures at the snake as soon as she got a hold on them.

The little creatures ran in terror from Patricia as she mercilessly hunted them down to feed them to the fleshy snake. Soon she found herself backing the last one into a corner. It had a large black scar running down one eye. 'Must be the leader,' she thought, 'Gotta be more careful with this one. No telling what this thing can do.'

No sooner had she thought of this than the creature rebounded off the wall between her legs and scampered off towards one of the many corpses that lay scattered on the floor. It grunted contentedly when it found the corpse it was looking for. The corpse was dressed in black and lying on its back. A blue timber wolf design on the T-shirt stood out against the black background. The Spinefant quickly searched the pockets and gave a chilling giggle when it found what it was looking for. The creature turned round to face Patricia and her hand full of complimentary pens. Patricia gasped in fear when she saw what the evil little thing was holding. It was a long, shiny switchblade. At that point Patricia knew that the creature was ready to put up a fight.

Desperate to get the key so she could get out Patricia grabbed anything near her and started throwing it at the spiteful little creature. Chairs, paperweights, her laptop, everything that might have had some value were now nothing more than ammunition. The Spinefant was much more agile than its fellow creatures. Looking more closely Patricia saw that it was also taller than the others. Then it dawned on her

'He's not like this because he's the leader. This thing is growing. Holy crap at the rate he's growing the thing will soon be big enough to easily take me down. Got to kill it and kill it quickly.' Patricia doubled her efforts to send the creature into oblivion.

The snake in the middle of the room was becoming restless. The Spinefant gave it a hateful look before jumping off the table, hopping onto Patricia's shoulder and diving at the snake in the style of a kamikaze. The snake snapped at the little creature before reeling back in anger and surprise as the Spinefant sliced the snakes tongue open with the blade, making the snake swallow the key. Patricia cursed as she watched helpless as the key disappeared from sight.

She picked up a safety first paperweight and threw it at the Spinefant as hard as she could. To her surprise she caught the little monster on the side of the head, stunning it for a couple of seconds, but more importantly knocking the switchblade out of the thing's hand. She made a desperate dive for the blade and was even more surprised when she found that she was clutching the small knife tightly while the Spinefant scratched at her hand. She quickly opened the blade and sliced at the creature. She was too slow however as the thing leapt back and looked between the snake and Patricia. It obviously decided on a tactical retreat as it scurried up the wall and into one of the ventilation shafts.

'I'll deal with you later. This isn't over tough guy.' Patricia thought with venom before turning back to face the snake. 'Right. Now to get out of here.' Patricia gripped the knife handle tightly before carefully making her way towards the snake with another chair in her hand.

Patricia expected the battle to last quite a while but as it turned out the real battle was over in the blink of an eye. Patricia was lucky, the snake wavered and swayed in an effort to hypnotise its prey. Then suddenly, without warning it opened it's jaws and lunged for her face. She reacted quickly and brought the chair up to defend herself, unwittingly impaling the snake on the chair leg. The snake had lunged with such force that its head had slid halfway up the leg of the chair. Upon seeing this Patricia wasted no time in slitting the snake's spongy neck open. Near the top of the body lay her goal.

She smiled as she fished the key out with the blade and picked it up off the floor. She was a little repulsed at where she got it. The snake was hissing wildly and still struggled desperately to reach Patricia. She stabbed it in a frenzy of rage and adrenaline as she didn't know what the hell was going on but she would be damned if this place was going to take her life. As the snake went limp she dropped the chair to the floor, sank to her knees and cried. She didn't know if she was in actual physical pain or if it was the shock or even just the relief that she was alive and that she was getting out of here. All she knew was that she couldn't hold the tears back any longer. When she had composed herself again she got up, smoothed down her expensive, blood-spattered suit, unlocked the door and walked out.

* * *

Thats all for now. More coming soon.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	4. Chapter 4

Just finished editing this chapter. Pace picks up a good bit now.

* * *

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 4: Baby's bottle

Cornelius nervously paced up one of the many corridors of Nowhere. As with anywhere in this place the corridor seemed to go on for miles. Cages and doorways filled the dank place with unearthly sounds coming from each one. This was one of Nate's many playrooms; where he created all his new toys. No matter how many times Cornelius ventured into this place he still couldn't get used to the level of fear that it brought out in him.

'How can one being hold so much hate inside itself to create these?' he thought as he walked, getting closer to the door he searched for. Eventually he reached his destination in the dark cold place. Each beast had a number and on each door his or her number was printed. The one he sought was known to him all too well. The number 310801091995 was rusted like a brand into the barrier that kept her inside.

The thick steel door creaked on its rusted hinges, as it swung open. The room inside was that of a pleasant hospital room. The sunlight of a red dawn was continuously pouring through the blinds, setting off the vase full of white flowers sitting on the bedside table. The figure on the bed sat up to see who was at the door.

Cornelius smiled lovingly "Good morning darling Josephine." The door squealed shut, keeping the nightmare outside at bay once again.

* * *

Patricia found herself carefully making her way through one of the many corridors that ran through the offices of Chainey and Lee Insurance. Her knuckles were white as she tightly gripped the switchblade. She hoped there weren't any more monsters bigger than the last things as she wasn't sure of her chances with the small knife.

A soft moan of pain came from somewhere around the corner up ahead. Patricia tensed up and shakily held the blade in front of her. It was hard to see much, as most of the lights were either too dim or flickering. A viscous fluid pooled on the floor. A few steps farther and the source of the liquid was visible. A lone water cooler stood near the corner surrounded by stains of black, red and brown. The stains streaked around to where the moans seemed to be coming from.

As Patricia drew nearer she noticed something floating inside the tank. A pinkish blob softly brushed against the clear plastic container. It slowly swirled around the red liquid and suddenly a pair of bright blue eyes looked out at Patricia.

She shrieked, quickly putting her free hand over her mouth in case anything heard her. The child was dead, that much was obvious but it was the old ship in the bottle question. Namely 'How the hell did it get in there?' A small pink digit twitched. Soon a small pink hand curled to form a minute fist.

The foetus beat upon the plastic scaring the crap out of Patricia. She put her hand to her mouth, 'Oh dear Lord. It's alive. How in the name of God can it still be alive?'

As the child beat on the plastic mouthing silent cries Patricia looked frantically for a way to free it. She felt around the back of the tank to grip the bottle and remove it so when she cut the bottle open the child wouldn't fall on the floor. Her hand came upon a scrap of crumpled paper that until recently must have been taped to the bottle. She opened it up and read it hoping that it would tell her an easier way to free the child. It read:

_Always drowning in a thick sea of red,_

_People who see me always think I'm dead,_

_Floating in my tank I'm all alone,_

_All I want is to go home,_

_So don't just stand there on the wrong side of the gate,_

_Push the buttons below and free poor little Nate._

'A way to help him fantastic. I wonder why someone threw that note away?' She put her thumb on the bloodstained lever and pushed hard.

"Hold on little guy I'll soon get you out." She noticed that the umbilical cord coming from the kid led down to the button she was pressing.

Soon the blood stopped as something blocked up the tube. 'Damn must be the cord. Now how do I get him out?' A gurgling sounded from the tap. Patricia looked at the nozzle in confusion and disgust as a small pink, bloodstained tentacle emerged.

Patricia stood there speechless as the worm-like thing snaked its way down to the floor. She went to pick it up hoping that she could keep it out of the mess on the floor.

As she picked it up the end of the cord split into four places, revealing a small fang in each corner. The cord clamped onto her hand and wound its way towards her stomach. She desperately tried to get the screeching appendage off her before it reached its goal.

Fear and anger gripped her when she saw the baby inside the tank giggling, his fierce blue eyes glaring with malignance. She suddenly remembered the knife and immediately knew what to do. She flicked it open with her free hand and savagely severed the cord off at the nozzle.

The baby and the cord both screamed in anger and pain. The cord started to shrink, giving off a disgusting smell that made Patricia throw up. Angry with herself for being so stupid and not stopping to think why the note had been thrown away. She pushed the cooler to the ground. The plastic container split wide open, sending the contents flying everywhere.

Nate was free. Patricia was about to slit the monster child's throat when the remains of the umbilical cord whipped up and bit her on the wrist making her drop the knife. She felt a gentle sucking, as she grew weaker. She punched the child making it squeal in dismay. The cord broke off oozing an oily substance, before splitting into four again, this time up to the child's navel and becoming something like spider legs. The child reared up and scuttled away at a frightful speed, crying and wailing as it bolted down the corridor.

Patricia picked up the knife and got to her feet. She sucked the wound and spat out the blood until she was happy that she wasn't poisoned. A soft moan came from around the corner. It was different from that of the foetal creature's unearthly shrieks. These cries sounded more human.

'I bet that's the person that crumpled the note. The kid must have got the poor soul as well. I have to help them. Anyway there is a better chance of getting out of here if there are two of us.' Nevertheless she still had the switchblade ready. She looked at it and noticed that it had a small metal cross on it. 'Salvation huh. Well here's hoping.'

She walked around the corner oblivious to the wound on her wrist. The four points now miraculously healed, but still leaving small, dark bruises. The hallway around the corner was pitch black as Patricia carefully proceeded to check for the source of the moans. She quickly scanned her surroundings for a light switch but couldn't see any there.

A small patch of grey, mottled skin could be seen in the dim light coming from the hall she stood in. She gathered herself and took a step towards the patch, ignoring her basic primal instincts to run like hell.

"CRUNCH." Patricia stepped back to see what she had stepped on. It looked like the remains of some sort of bug. Skittering and clicking noises joined the soft moans in an eerie chorus. The wall seemed to pulse with movement. Patricia tentatively poked at the wall with the knife.

A small screeching noise was heard before her arm was half smothered by small dark shapes.

"Holy Mother." Patricia exclaimed as she furiously swiped at the insects. More dark shapes dropped from a fluorescent light directly above her revealing the identity of the little creatures. Cockroaches…

* * *

Nathaniel walked happily down one of his favourite corridors in Nowhere, looking for his parents and feeding his pets on the way. He carried a large bag of beef jerky with him, taking a nibble every now and then.

Red and golden eyes shone back at him from the darkness. The weak light shining in the middle of the dank, decomposing hall kept his pets just far enough from the bars so he could slip his hand inside the rusty bars to throw the beef jerky into the cell.

The cages only lasted for a short while. They housed his smaller creatures. Once he got past them there came the bigger cells that were completely transparent but were much more secure than any material cell. These cells were made of magic specifically to Nate's design, as he wanted to see these larger pets feed whenever they had the chance to feed on living flesh. The only material thing about the cells was that they had large steel doors with slats near the bottom for feeding purposes.

Each beast had a number just as each child has a name. Each creation was different in one way or another. The decaying reanimated corpses of nurses patrolled the corridors. Their motor functions already starting to show signs of deterioration as they twitched violently every now and again.

There seemed to be fewer than normal today but then again that could only be expected today with all the excitement over the ritual of crossing. Nathan came to a door with a strange symbol and the name Bazalamon etched onto its steel surface. 'Not far now. Wonder how Mom is?' he thought as he pushed the door open.

As soon as the door was open Nate could tell that something was wrong here. There was an eerie silence where there was normally a large commotion of howls, whoops and whistles. Suddenly from the darkness above him came the sound of something large clinging to the metal cage ceiling, straining the bars.

A large body dropped down in front of Nate. It's sickly pink and white skin was covered in black splotches outlined in yellow that moved along its body. It also had oversized arms and legs. Pointed bones protruded from the club-like ends of its arms. It's face consisted of three lines that opened so form a mouth on what appeared to be a dinner plate for a head. The head was attached to a wormlike neck to join onto the body. Nate recognised it as one of his bodyguards. A closer named Matt. He grabbed Nate with his club-like arms and opened his three lips to speak in a harsh whisper.

"Master?! I need to hide you quickly. He has somehow gotten loose. I think it was those blasted children. I knew company would only encourage him to remember his human side. They reminded him of being a father and now he's let most of the spiky terrors loose.

They appear to have commandeered some of the nurses and used them as vessels to get into the realm of light. I have been containing and watching him, stalling for time to think of a way to subdue him. However now you are here things have changed, and not for the better either. Here hide yourself in the children's cell behind one of their paintings. Bright colours seem to confuse him so he tends to avoid them. I will try to subdue him so you can decide what to do with him."

Nate nodded and hid behind a picture of a burning hotel. Even with most of the powers of a deity he was still vulnerable and the Lurker was one of his most dangerous creations yet.

A loud sniffing sound was heard from the darkness ahead. It was followed by a satisfied chuckle and lumbering footsteps. Matt hit the lamp nearest to him with one of his bony spikes. He made sure that he had both spikes out, as he was sure that this was going to be a tough fight.

The lamp swung, sending light into the darkness and revealing glimpses of the Lurker in the dark. As a Closer, Matt did not fear much as he was one of the more powerful creatures in this hellhole, but he knew when he was outmatched and that this fight would take more than sheer brute force to win.

Red globes flashed whenever the light hit the Lurker's eyes. Matt hid up in the ceiling again to get ready to pounce. The creature partially came into the light and Matt's fears were confirmed. The thing was unchained.

The creature was made up of different, warped body parts. It was a large head with four lumbering, blue tentacles that looked like veins descending from the neck and acting as legs. Its Rastafarian hair served two purposes. Firstly the strands acted as arms, secondly they were tipped with bony claws and could be used as weapons.

It seemed that the beast had grown strong enough to dispel the magic that had held him. Either that or one of the little ones had entered a guard and set him free. The Lurker spoke in a deep and angry voice.

"Where are you devil? I recognise your scent. It lies like an oily scum on all the creatures here. Why did you do it? We remember what you did. Oh yes our spiky little cellmates told us what you did and we remembered."

'We?' Matt thought. He had not seen the creature up close before but now that he could Matt saw the others that the Lurker referred to. Small faces writhed and slid about the large head's skin. It looked like a multitude of small skulls buried beneath the creatures flesh.

The Lurker continued after the silence his tone was smug this time. "That is not all your spiky children told us. Oh no. They told us that you were not a God. They know your little secret thanks to the mind reading gift that you gave them and now I know it too. You can be killed and believe me after what you have done you will suffer a long, painful torture. Oh by God but you will suffer."

Matt's eyes narrowed as he got ready to pounce, "Closer…closer." The Lurker plodded forward a couple of steps before extending a tentacle towards the cell door that Nate was hiding in. The door was ripped off its hinges. The beast sniffed close to the entrance and smiled.

"Peak-a-boo I've found you." The colours in the picture swirled and danced as if they were real flames. The creature stepped back while shielding his eyes.

"Now." Matt leapt down from the shadows onto the Lurker, thrusting his arm spikes into the Lurker's eyes.

Screaming with a sound of pain and rage that filled the corridor the Lurker jabbed its tentacles up towards Matt hoping to catch and crush him. Matt furiously stabbed at the creature's head before vaulting off just in time towards the ceiling. The claws dove at the place Matt used to be; unfortunately all the Lurker accomplished was to stab into his own scalp.

The Lurker roared in pain. He began to speak again, blood streaming down his face. "Minion of the devil I know you can hear me. My life was taken unfairly from me. Not only that but that of my family as well. It is probably the same for you too." His voice broke down, sounding a bit weaker towards the end.

Matt didn't know if it was due to emotion or if it was down to the lack of blood but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. Matt jumped down from the darkness to stand in front of the creature, his oversized arms dragging on the pale concrete, spikes still protruding from the fleshy clubs. For some reason the creature still retained the power of sight. The small faces had opened their tiny eyes. All of them screamed their own tiny chorus of pain, some screwed up their faces as blood flowed over them. Matt spoke while keeping an eye on the Lurker making sure that he didn't underestimate the beast even in a weakened state.

"My story is as sad as anyone else's but unlike you I see this form as a gift to fulfil my destiny. Everything happens for a reason. You were wrong to assume that I had completely lost my humanity. You had better accept your destiny soon as well, else I will be forced to remove your mind so that you will become like the mindless drones that you hate and pity so much."

The Lurker raised his tentacles and narrowed his eyes "To the death then."

Matt chuckled, "If that's the way you want it then fine. I'm sure the master can use your spare parts to make some new creations." With that Matt raised his huge meaty clubs, pointed them at the Lurker's forehead and charged with a guttural cry.

* * *

Patricia opened her eyes squinting as the artificial light shone onto her from above. The last thing she remembered was that she was being swallowed by a sea of cockroaches. They were suffocating her, the wave of scuttling darkness crawling down her throat and blocking her airway. She had fainted.

A voice drifted into her ears, "Hello? Miss are you OK? You seemed to be having quite the nightmare for a moment there but then again who isn't in this place? I think he must have got you too then. I can see the mark on your wrist."

Patricia groaned as she got up. She was a bit groggy at first but soon she started to remember about the child in the water bottle. She looked around and saw the container in pieces on the floor. "That thing was real?" The voice around the corner spoke again.

"I'm afraid so. The poison it produces induces severe nightmares in its victims, giving it a chance to escape if threatened. A tricky little beggar. You are not the first one I have seen to suffer from its effects."

Patricia was confused, "But I didn't blackout until I walked around the corner. How could I have been asleep? The bottle is still broken."

The voice sighed, "The poison takes effect as soon as you are bitten. You may sleepwalk for a time but in reality the only thing you achieved was to set it free. It seems that for a moment the lines between reality and nightmare are blurred before the blackout occurs."

Patricia became suspicious, "How do you know so much?"

The voice replied in a sad tone, "I have been here; watching for quite sometime now."

Angered, Patricia lashed out, "And you did nothing to help?"

The voice sounded frustrated, "How could I?"

Patricia was puzzled, "What do you mean? Where are you?" Patricia walked around the corner to find the voices owner. The switchblade fell spinning to the stained carpet and landed with a barely audible 'thud'. Before her lay some thing she knew that she should have expected; horror. However the new horror completely took her by surprise.

It was the fact that it was so human in appearance. The man who had been talking to her was tall with dark eyes. His dark hair was cut short, with a light beard and moustache. His wrists were covered in small lines where he had obviously slit them. Apart from a few tattered shreds he was naked. The lower half of his body was not visible. It seemed that his body had been neatly cut in half. His top half was stapled to the wall with numerous nails, spikes and oversized staples.

Small trickles of coagulated blood were imprinted on the walls. Patricia picked up the knife. "How long have you been there?"

The man sighed, "This place has been my residence for as long as I can remember. The name is William Fisk. Pleased to meet you Miss?"

Patricia fixed her hair, pushed her glasses up and generally tidied herself before shaking his hand. "Patricia Heartwing. Pleased to meet you." As she shook hands with the torso, now known to her as William Fisk, she couldn't help but think how crazy this looked.

She thought about it, 'Might as well look at this like Alice in Wonderland. This world can't be real. I don't know how I got here. Maybe I'm asleep back in the office and this is all a dream. In any case I'll just play along and ride it out until it's over.'

She withdrew her hand. William frowned, "Hmm so you cope by thinking that this is a dream too huh? Well I gotta tell you now that you have to snap out of that way of thinking. You are partially right this place was created from someone's dreams but then again isn't the world you come from the same? And just like in your world you are affected by everything that surrounds you, if you are cut you will bleed, if you die here you die there as well. There are some things about this darkness and it's creator that I have to tell you… Oh hold on just a second."

Patricia followed Fisk's line of sight until a solitary cockroach came into view. As quickly as he could manage Fisk pierced his left wrist with an overgrown nail and spread the blood on the wall. The cockroach gave out a few clicks, sensing the nearby blood. It sharply turned around and scuttled quickly towards the waiting Fisk.

As soon as it came within his reach he slammed his hand down with his palm cupped, trapping the creature. He picked the insect up and shoved it into his mouth, still clicking. The clicking soon stopped after the first few crunches. He finished his meal while Patricia watched. Once done he wiped his mouth.

"Pardon my manners, survival and all that. Now where was I? Oh yes the darkness. This realm was created by what some of your predecessors have called the devil if that means anything to you. I have seen many people come through here sinners and supposed saints alike.

There was one man, called himself a preacher. He figured this was hell. He died too… Anyway I can assure you that this is not hell, merely a different version of your world. This place simply has more devils. The creature who created this place is one of them, his name is Nathaniel."

Patricia interrupted, "You mean the kid in the tank?"

William shook his head, "No that was merely another one of his creations. I think he's working on growing a decoy. There are a few of them as he is not invulnerable."

Patricia looked thoughtful, "So why did he put you up here? Are you a threat to him or something?"

Fisk shook his head in bewilderment, "I don't know if I got on the wrong side of him but he had his henchman put me up here. He said it was symbolic. I have no idea what he meant. Maybe it will be of some use to you. I tell everyone this, it never makes a difference but I can always hope."

Patricia's brow wrinkled with thought for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders, "Nope. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Let's not worry about that. For now let's just worry about getting you down from there. You're obviously important in some way."

Patricia flicked the knife and went to work behind William, trying to pry the staples out. He cried out in pain, "Ahh stop, stop. If I fall I will surely die. I need you to get my wheelchair. Its in that room over there." A dark watery liquid was starting to ooze from behind his skin. "Hurry." His fear filled voice urged her on.

She opened the door to find a small storeroom. There at the back of the room was the wheelchair Fisk was talking about. There was also cleaning products, a flashlight, a first aid kit and a chain with an unlocked padlock at the end. Sitting on the seat of the chair was an unexpected visitor waiting for Patricia. It grinned and waved.

It was another Spinefant. Patricia flicked the knife open and grabbed a bottle of bleach. She pierced the side and sprayed it all over the little beast's face, sending it into throes of agony. The creature screamed before clambering up the shelves and flying into the ventilation system like a bat out of hell. Patricia grabbed the chair and rushed back into the hallway.

There were now fountains of the water spraying out from behind Fisk. A large bulge now stretched the skin behind his neck showing up all of his freckles and age spots. His face was contorted with excruciating pain. Stretching sounds like a balloon being inflated came from his body before a high pitched squeal escaped.

Patricia left the wheelchair in the hall and ran to the storeroom. She shut the door and braced herself. "Help me," Fisk screamed before the staples started to come loose. "PING," the staples burst out of his skin like bullets. The force of which embedded them into the wall.

One cracked Fisk's skull at the back. His bloody torso went limp before a groaning was heard. Cracks quickly spread out along the wall quickly followed by trickles of dark water. The groaning and splitting sounds became louder before Fisk's limp corpse was sent flailing into the wall by a torrent of cold black liquid.

The wheelchair smacked off the storeroom door before sailing down the corridor. Patricia noticed water starting to seep under the door. She quickly took her jacket off and rolled it up in an effort to block the gap. 'And I thought that Jack guy was going to ruin my suit. Huh, life is a bitch.'

She looked around and grabbed anything she thought she might need. There was some candy on the shelf next to the flashlight but she thought better of it. She opened the first aid kit and found a bottle of Stareol. Patricia quickly poured the disinfectant over the areas she had been bitten and scratched. She cleaned the wound with some cotton wool and closed the kit again.

She knew that there would be no point staying in this death trap so she picked up her jacket and stored away the chain and the knife before picking up the flashlight. Patricia smirked, 'This is like one of those videogames that Rick plays.' She forced the door open and waded out into the hallway.

The initial blast had done quite a bit of damage but had obviously passed. She saw the late Fisk's body float by and forced herself to stop crying. 'Sure it was your fault but weep for the dead when you are safe.' Patricia was emotionless at the best of times but seeing the poor man's face struck a cord. It was her fault and she knew it. It didn't matter that she tried to help that man was dead because of her.

Tears starting to blur her vision she tripped over the wheelchair while fixing her hair. Its wheels were still spinning giving out a terrible squeal as they did so. As she fell Patricia caught a glimpse of something moving… something big.

Dark water rose around her. She could feel a current pulling at her. Soon she was swept off her feet as frothing and angry rapids drove her further. Something bristly brushed past her. She looked wildly about while taking quick breaths. With all the writhing and tumbling Patricia's weapons and supplies were lost. 'This didn't happen in the game. Life sucks.' She thought helplessly. Her head hit something hard. Darkness…

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that chapter. Next one follows Jack. Please R&R  
Cheers  
Wolf


	5. Chapter 5

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 5: A Warm Reception

Jack made his way carefully down the stairs of black marble and flowing blood that streamed under glass panes. After the dark laugh had rumbled from the bottom of the stairs, he had originally decided to make his way upstairs to look for help. Something stopped him though. That something was a scream coming from somewhere below. Now Jack knew that he was no hero but he couldn't do nothing, after all the screamer might be able to provide him with some well-needed answers.

He still had no weapon to speak of so he had planned to grab the screamer from whatever trouble they faced and to run like hell. By the fourth floor Jack's plan came to nothing as the screams stopped. They were replaced by dull, wet, thudding noises. Jack seemed to be getting closer but by the time he had reached the next floor the noises had moved again. Suddenly Jack caught sight of something fleshy on the blood-coated marble as he descended to the second floor.

It was a monster lying dead at the entrance to the second floor. Brown liquid flowed steadily from its wounds. If it was the same stuff that the other monster bled Jack didn't even want to smell it. He put his sleeve up to his nose to keep the poisonous fumes from reaching him.

It seemed the screamer had managed to trip the creature up and had smashed its head in with the door. The head lay twitching half in and halfway out of the doorway. The bulk of the monster lay behind the door.

The sounds of flesh ripping and bone crunching echoed up the stairway as Jack pried the door open just enough for him to fit in. Jack looked back at the stairway as he slipped in. Something was new. The vibrant, green trees were replaced by skinned heads impaled on wood and metal pikes. The handrail was now made of bone.

Jack's mind went reeling into shock. He couldn't believe his eyes, 'This is an office for chrissakes, not a bloody chamber of horrors. What the hell is going on?' His body went into autopilot; his head wanted to puke and blackout. Survival instincts took over as he pulled a head off its pike and tried to rip the pike out of the ground, snapping the wooden shaft in half.

The head fell screaming to the ground. The scream was soon taken up by the others in a wave of alarm. A split second later the call was answered by a bone-chilling roar coming from somewhere overhead. When loud footsteps were heard Jack took them as his cue to be elsewhere when the creature appeared. He quickly ducked into the second floor door, slamming the door shut and completely severed the top half of the head from the monsters corpse.

Jack looked at the pike, 'At least I have a weapon now. I'd better find that survivor; if they could take this thing down we may have a chance to get out of here together.' He carefully walked into the reception hall, his pike at his side, keeping an eye out for any signs of life in the place. A whistling sound came from behind him. Jack turned around just in time to see a metal pipe smack him on the head with a 'clunk' before passing out.

* * *

Nathaniel was starting to have a bit more fun now. He was hiding behind a very colourful painting of the Lakeside Hotel. It reminded him of the dramatic changes that had gone on in Silent Hill since he had resided there. 'CLANG' Matt was thrown hard into the rusty bars of the holding cells.

The battle had been more two sided than Nathan had expected. The Lurker was one of Nate's strongest creatures and so was the favourite for winning a battle such as this one. Matt however was no weakling and his experience as Nate's bodyguard had proven to be most useful, effectively evening the odds.

After being slammed into the bars Matt lay still. The Lurker, still in a rage charged, intending to stomp Matt's corpse into jelly. As soon as the thick blue veins whistled in the air towards him Matt flicked his spikes out and stabbed the Lurker's feet.

The creature roared in pain as purple blood gushed everywhere. Matt jumped for the ceiling again. The blood now made it impossible for the Lurker to stand. It was now forced to use some of its bone tipped tentacles to grab the walls and start climbing up to the ceiling like some hideous spider.

Blood poured into the cell, covering Nate. The bright colours of the pictures now covered with dark blood allowed the Lurker to see inside the cell. A smirk grew across its bloody face. More and more little black and read eyes turned towards the boy.

"Aha. There you are." It extended one of its slick tentacles to reach for Nate. Matt leaped down from the shadows onto the creature again, this time going for tentacles instead of eyes. As Matt desperately sliced, pummelled and jabbed at the creature the Lurker began a slow, painful descent. It thrashed back at Matt cutting and tearing lumps of flesh off him. Matt was past the point of caring and immediately intensified the aggression of his attacks. He had served his master too long to be dishonoured by this freak.

The Lurker now streamed purple blood. The faces screamed agonising cries of an unsated need for revenge after an unfair death. They hit the ground with a wet slap, sending a small wave of blood across the floor. The Lurker's massive tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth. His football-sized eyes, now leaking fluid were rolled into their sockets and the small faces of his children lay still; fixed in screams of agony. Nevertheless Matt continued cutting and piercing. Nathaniel did not interrupt; he knew that the bloodlust was upon Matt. In a few minutes the Lurker was nothing but body parts and lumps of gore strewn about the blood-covered floor.

Matt breathed heavily, purple blood seeping from his own wounds.

Matt carefully walked over to the child. "Are you well master?"

Nate smiled; on the face of the child he occupied it seemed even more joyful. He clapped his hands fiercely "Fantastic work Matthias. I haven't enjoyed myself like that for years. Oh I have a feeling this era will bring great things. Yes great things indeed." A thoughtful, distant look came over his face and then suddenly he returned whenever he looked back at Matt.

"Oh yes, sorry. You deserve a reward for all your hard work. Take the pieces that you like and wait for me at the hospital. There's a lot of work to do." Matt bowed and picked up a few organs that he liked the look of. He seemed fond of the tentacles in particular. With that gathered the odd pair both walked slowly down the corridors of Nowhere until they came to a rusted steel door with a red cross painted thickly on the metal.

Alchemilla was painted underneath the cross; the black lettering flaking in Nowhere's decayed atmosphere. Matt pushed the door open, "Thank you master. Please give my warmest regards to your mother for me." Nate smiled, "That I shall." Nate patted Matt on the arm, "Go on now get some rest, you deserve it." He looked past Matt to see other injured creatures including Hugo Sorenson who was waving his arm. The only problem was that the arm was detached from the rest of his body.

Nate sighed into himself 'No rest for the wicked.' He put a hand to his mouth and shouted into the waiting room. "I'll see you all in a short while. I am off to visit mother. If it's urgent then get a nurse to patch you up in the meantime."

One of the creatures glanced nervously at the twitching zombie. It clearly doubted her competence at mending wounds. Nate had to get fresh bodies. He suspected at this rate the current medical team may do more harm than good. 'Another problem for another time' he decided. The ritual of crossing was so close that soon this little realm wouldn't matter anyway. Nate waved goodbye and shook his head when he saw Hugo's detached arm give a thumbs up as the door closed shut.

The metal floor clanked softly as Nate continued towards his Mum's room. It seemed like no time at all had passed before he was there. He gently turned the doorknob and pushed it open. He had to cover his eyes as the harsh dawn light hit him. When he regained his vision he saw his Mum and Dad kissing in a fierce embrace, Cornelius' arms around Josephine's frail body and her tentacles around his.

Nate made a face, "Uuugh. Get a room you guys." They smiled and looked at him. Cornelius excused himself from the room as he had business to attend to. Josephine gave him a knowing look of concern and clasped his hand. They kissed a slow soft kiss that said more than any words could have expressed. Cornelius stroked her face tenderly before saying goodbye to both of them. He hugged Nathaniel and patted him on the head before leaving the room whistling.

Josephine turned her attention back to Nate. "Hello son. Come on and sit beside your Mommy." She picked him up with a thin, smooth tentacle and pecked him on the cheek before setting him beside her. "Now then tell Mommy everything. What happened to you today?" Nate wiped his cheek with his hand to get the lipstick off and proceeded to tell Josephine the whole story.

* * *

Jack woke up to the sounds of a phone ringing soon followed by the clear sound of a voice that had to be Cordelia, the receptionist on the second floor. He knew her because Damien, the apprentice on his floor had a crush on her and never stopped talking about her. The office was getting worried about his behaviour when he started to pin up stalker like Polaroids of her on his desk.

Although Jack barely knew her it would still be nice to see someone human again. He was still a bit groggy after the blow to the forehead. 'Cordelia must have thought that I was Damien.' When his vision came back into focus what he saw was anything but nice.

Being woozy he moved his head, looking slowly from the red felt carpet to the desk. He paused a while to give an appreciative look at Cordi's marvellous bosom before continuing up. She slowly twirled the phone line slowly around her left index finger. She fidgeted as her hair started to become entangled in the white cord.

Her photos didn't lie; Cordelia was an attractive girl. She had a stud in her tongue and a line of earrings running up her right ear. She had a streak of blue running through her jet-black hair to match her earrings. Jack couldn't believe the change in her.

A phone receiver was now chained to her face. Rather it was chained _through_ her face. The large rusty links nearly choking her as she fervently repeated the same paragraph over and over again. Her face was a bit raw and puffy especially around the eyes. It was obvious that she had been crying for a substantial amount of time.

Jack slowly got up, dizziness hit him and he quickly sat down again. Holding his head in his hands he talked softly to her. "I know you are busy but could you put that thing on privacy for a couple of seconds? I have to talk to you." She looked at Jack and shook her head. She was close to tears again when she held up a yellow post it note for Jack to read.

He staggered over to the desk hoping that it was just her pink top that was fuzzy rather than his vision. The heat coming from the lights in the room was becoming almost unbearable as he finally reached the desk. Cordi directed the small blue fan on her tidy desk towards Jack. Jack swept his forehead and gave her an appreciative smile and a thumbs up. Looking a little relieved to see Jack she kept talking but gave Jack the thumbs up back.

Jack proceeded to read the post it.

"My Dear Cordelia. Do not scream. Do not attempt to escape. Listen to my voice and repeat what I say exactly if you wish to live."

Jack looked grim as he gave Cordi the post it back. He tried listening in to see if he could recognise the voice on the other end. It sounded like the voice's owner was in his middle years; thirty, forty maybe. He reminded Jack of one Derek Johnston, a crooner he used to know in his teens, Old Gold Tone as he was known back then. The person talking however was not Derek Johnston. The person talking was an utter psychopath.

Cordi's tone became more nervous and she almost whimpered the next part. "_Good day Mr Keller. It is a pleasure to finally talk to you. Though not entirely in person as such if you will pardon the expression._" Jack's face paled 'Scratch psychopath and replace it with a psychopath that knows your name.'

Cordi spoke again, "_I believe that you are already fully aware by now of dear little Cordelia's plight and as such I will bend the rules a bit. Just for you Jack. I will allow precious Cordelia here to relay your questions and replies. Is this satisfactory? Oh I probably should mention that a silence on your part will be considered a signal that the call is terminated. If you answer falsely or speak to me in a manner not to my liking then more than just the call will be terminated. Comprehendez vous?_"

Jack was angry and confused. He was sure that he wasn't going to like where this conversation went but he didn't have much choice, after all a girl's life was at stake here. He hung his head, gritted his teeth and answered, "Yes." "_Excellent_," Cordi answered, an expectant look on her face, tears welling up. She held up her hand as she listened to the psychopath on the other end.

"_You are Jack Keller of Godspell Architects yes_?"

"Yes that's right."

"_Do you know why you are here?" _

"I work here. You just said that you already knew that." A light clinking was heard as the chain running through Cordi's head tightened.

"_Careful Jack. Don't be so flippant. Cordelia's head can only stand so much pressure."_ This time Cordelia herself spoke as well as the voice on the phone.

Jack put his hands up to reassure her. "OK. I'm sorry. I am here because I work here. I mean I work in this building."

"_That is not what I meant. I meant to ask if you knew why you are in this place of torment and great suffering."_

Jack looked at the ground trying to think. "No."

"_Come on Jack think really hard. What would your wife and child say?"_

Jack looked up sharply in extreme confusion. "I have a wife and child?" After the incident there was a large hole in Jack's life. He just couldn't remember what happened and all he knew came from fragments that the hospital staff told him. To this day all he knew was that he had suffered from a severe mental breakdown, brought on by excessive trauma and that any attempt to regain memory of it might induce further complications. For that reason alone he had left it. There was something in the back of his mind like a spark trying to ignite but the darkness was fighting to smother and extinguish it.

"_Oh dear Jack this won't do. Won't do at all. I see that you are going to need some motivation to realise the truth."_

Jack looked up to see Cordi going nearly as white as a ghost. "What truth?" The tone became menacing.

"_You deserve to be here. Goodbye Jack."_ The room was silent except for Cordelia's muffled sobs. _"Oh and Jack."_

"What?"

"_It's goodbye from the lovely Cordelia as well. Goodbye my dear."_ There was a kissing sound on the phone before the line gave out a dead tone.

Cordelia went into hysterics, crying into the phone hoping to reach anyone that could listen. "No please don't let me die. I didn't mean what I said mister honest I didn't. I promise I'll fix it. I…aaahhhh." There was a dark smoke coming out of her mouth in small wisps. "Help meee."

Jack saw a nearby water cooler. He sprinted over to it, poured a cup of cold, filtered water and rushed back to Cordi. He poured the cool liquid down her throat and jumped back when blue sparks flashed through the chain and lit up her eyes.

She was thrown back in the chair and started to spin. With the smoke now belching out of her ears, nose and mouth she looked like a mini tornado. The phone cord held her fast and suddenly as soon as she had started, she stopped. Jack tentatively felt for a pulse. Inside he knew that there wouldn't be one. His instincts were not wrong. Smoke was still coming out of her body. Her flesh smelled and crackled like burning bacon.

Jack took a few steps backward with his sleeve up to his nose before quickly removing it to wretch on the floor. He got up and walked over to the cooler to get a drink, hoping that the water would take the taste out of his mouth. There was an envelope lying on top of it. He picked it up and started to feel sick again whenever he saw the name written in copperplate writing. _Jack. _He decided to drink before looking at the contents of the envelope.

He had the feeling that he would need to. He carefully slid his finger under the seal and ran it smoothly along until it opened. He opened the envelope fully and emptied its contents onto the table. 'Just a letter huh. What were you expecting Jack? A magic key to get you out of here?' Jack proceeded to read the letter.

"My Dear Jack,

Welcome to the real Paradise Tower. I trust that Cordelia is not quite so beautiful anymore. May I take this chance to offer my sympathies. You really should have tended to your own matters. My apologies for the knock to the noggin but you seemed to rush ahead of yourself. We were not ready for you. Tess however knew you would be a fast learner and promptly took action to slow your progress albeit in a rather savage manner.

_There are a few lessons for you to learn here in Special Studies. See that you learn them well as I doubt that you will survive long in ignorance. Although it seems no matter how fast you learn and rush into things, the fire still beats you to it. Poor Jack, the knight in rusted armour. A word of advice, choose your battles wisely Jack, you can't save everyone. In fact I'll be surprised if you can save yourself._

_I hope you do though Jack. I'm rooting for you. Mainly because I want to see your face when you remember. I'm looking forward to seeing you then. Enjoy Special Studies. You will find the pass you need hung around dear Cordelia's neck. Good Luck._

_ Kind Regards _

_ Robert Corn_

_ Corn and Cobb Construction Company_

_ C4"_

Jack crumpled the letter in his fist. Rage danced across his face. "Sonofabitch. I'll show you. I'll save them all." He walked purposely over to Cordi and gently removed the pass from her neck. 'Yeah Jack. Fine start you're makin' so far. You better get back on the ball and fast.' Jack brushed some burnt hair from Cordi's face. "I'm sorry hun, I'll get him for you. I swear I will." He whispered before approaching the large green double doors that lead into Special Studies.

* * *

Matt looked in the full sized mirror and grinned. It was an odd grin as he had three joining lips. He was exceptionally pleased with the results of the surgery. So much more power at the cost of relatively little pain. Anaesthetics were hard to come by in the realm. After all this was a realm of pain and punishment.

Matt now had a row of claws running from shoulder to shoulder as well as all the way down his back. A small pair of new red eyes looked out of the back of his head. He was especially proud of his new tentacles. He had four on each arm. These gave him the ability to run smoothly on any surface. They could also drag prey closer to his arms until they came within range of his spikes.

The guys down at the barracks were not going to believe this. "Well?" Nate asked expectantly. "You have outdone yourself Master. I just can't wait to put them to use." Matt bowed, which was quite a sight for a creature of his size. Nate looked thoughtful; "Maybe you will get the chance sooner than expected. One of the clones has gotten loose. I need you to bring him to me. I want to know who is fouling up my plans. Every cog must be in place before the time comes, else I will have to wait another century to get back along the path of the righteous and frankly I don't think Mother has that amount of time left."

* * *

Jack found the double doors a little stiff to open. When he finally did open the door wide enough he saw why. The whole corridor was covered in large stretches of flesh. The part that Jack had scraped clean showed there to be bloodied wire mesh. Droplets of red fell into the black void of nothingness underneath.

Jack wondered just how strong that mesh really was. 'Wake up Jack. Stop worrying about things that don't matter. Your fear is holding you back again. Don't let it. The hallway seems stable enough even though the flesh is moving. Just move like a shadow; swiftly, softly and silently. There have to be more people in here if he said I couldn't save them all.'

With that Jack slipped in and squelched his way down the corridor. He found it hard not to slip as skin stretched, split and bled under his feet. A light laughter caught Jack's attention. It sounded like that of an infant's cheerfulness.

Jack veered down a small side passage, seeking where the laughter came from. Sitting there on a fleshy floor was a baby. It's cheeks rosy and its bright blue eyes full of mirth. Something about its eyes disturbed Jack deeply. A warning went off in his head, he ignored it. It's umbilical cord was still attached to its tiny budda belly. It saw Jack and pointed at him with a stubby little digit. Jack was unsure about what to do with the child. He wanted to pick it up but a wave of inexplicable fear swept over him when he went to do so.

A wet, tearing sound combined with the squealing of bending metal was heard as the floor behind him rose to the ceiling, effectively becoming a wall. The baby laughed again and pointed at the wall behind itself. The squealing and tearing was heard again as the wall became part of the floor for another corridor. "I get it kid. You are a diversion to stop me from saving the others."

The baby just looked up at him and laughed. A large thudding noise was heard coming from somewhere beneath the child. Jack dived for the child and ran down the corridor with the baby cradled under one arm. The infant began to cry as a ripping sound was heard under the floor. A large gap opened up behind Jack and a black tentacle with a white tip poked through. Sounds of straining metal were to be heard as the rest of the creature dragged itself through the floor.

It was large and pinkish. It was like no creature Jack had ever seen. It had no face to speak of but rather a dinner plate of flesh with a large mouth outlined by three lips. It was covered in spikes and tentacles.

Finding himself backed into another corner Jack tried to get the child's finger to point at one of the walls. "Come on kid. You can do the wall trick. Get us outta here or we're both dead." The child looked at Jack, lying still for a moment, then it's lip began to quiver and finally burst into tears." Angered Jack set the child behind him on the floor next to a heating vent.

He turned to face the monster. "So you're the diversion sent to stop me saving the survivors." A dark chuckle came from the monsters maw. "I am no mere diversion. I am Matt. Servant of the building's creator. I am here for the child not you, although I am more than willing to deal with you if that is what you want." Matt's spikes protruded and his tone became darker than his laugh. "As for survivors. Forget it. Don't you see we already have you. All of you."

The creature was about to lash out at Jack with it's tentacles when it's attention was diverted by a loud banging noise. The echoing sounds of laughter made Jack turn his head for a split second as well. The infant had just ripped the heating vent cover off the wall and thrown it aside while it escaped down the vent, crawling at an astonishing speed.

Jack's jaw dropped in speechless shock. "Noo not again," the monster groaned. He threw Jack aside like a rag doll before ripping a hole in the wall and following the child. After Jack had recovered sufficiently he dusted himself off. His suit now covered in blood he laughed at what he was doing before jumping through the hole and pursuing the monster. 'Can't let it kill the child.'

He was stopped by a dead end. There was a fleshy wall and there was obviously a recent hole put through it once but the space was now sealed by large tentacles of muscle. Jack had an idea and tried cutting through the tentacles with his makeshift spear. It was no good. Whenever he cut one away two more seemed to take it's place.

'Damn it. OK asshole. I'll play your game for now. As soon as I see you though you're mine.' Jack headed back the way he came and sure enough a wall of tentacles lay down for him. He ran blindly into the dimly lit corridors. The amount of adrenaline pumping through his body made him feel like he was ready to take on whatever lay ahead. He would need that strength for his path would not be an easy one.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that chapter. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	6. Chapter 6

Bit of a long chapter this one so stick with it.

* * *

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 6: The Palace of the Unwanted

Patricia awoke to the sound of lapping water. She opened her eyes and cleaned her fogged-up glasses with her shirtsleeve. Patricia found herself propped up against a cold, damp wall. The moisture was making her bottom half and back freezing. Her top half was drying off slowly in the damp air.

Patricia got up quickly when she realised that she was sitting in the water, only to bang her head off the low ceiling. She crouched and put her glasses back on while rubbing her head where it hurt most. She looked around and saw that she was in a dimly lit tunnel.

White light filtered in from a door's window to her left and an eerie green glow spread across the water to her right. 'No competition there then.' She started to wade over to the door keeping her hand on the wall. The tunnel wall comprised of large, cold slabs of moss covered stone.

Patricia felt the urge to scream whenever she felt something scuttle underneath her touch. Moisture left a slick sheen on the wall making it hard to feel her way along without slipping. She eventually reached the door. It was a typical wooden door but was surrounded with plaster as if the tunnel had always been here. There was a small, circular window on the upper half of the door.

A wave of relief washed over her when she looked through. It looked like the world she was familiar with. Rows of desks and computers filled the large felt carpeted office. Workers milled around busy and oblivious to the dark world that lay inches from them. Patricia nearly cried for joy when she saw them. The view got her thinking, 'What's so special about them? Why is their world not a hell?'

Patricia banged as hard as she could on the wooden door. The plaster at either side gave off a cloud of dust whenever she did so. Patricia sneezed and then looked again. Nothing. It wasn't that the office workers couldn't see her. When Patricia looked out the window she saw nothing but her reflection lit up in the darkness. She looked down to see something shining up at her through the water.

It was the small flashlight that she had grabbed earlier. 'Well at least I have a little ray of hope left.' She shone the light into the darkness on the other side of the door. There was definitely something moving there. It was pale and moved slowly in the blackness.

Suddenly a ghostly pale face, fixed in a state of terror was violently thrust against the glass. Patricia backed away from the door as the bright blue eyes bulged. Bones moved in short violent movements and red streams spread across the glass. The face stretched all at once widening to ridiculous proportions.

Patricia realised what was happening. The girl on the other side was carrying a Spinefant. Patricia flinched as the claws pried the girls face open splitting it in two. The hideous grey and red face smiled at her as it dropped down off the body. Patricia backed away keeping the torch on the door in case the thing got through.

The torch now fully lit up the door. There were two signs. The first was that of a fire exit. The second was a white sign with red lettering. It crushed Patricia inside when she read it. _VAIN HOPE_. Patricia cursed into herself and slowly turned around to wade back towards the eerie green light.

* * *

Matt was becoming frustrated. Thanks to that idiot of a lost soul he had lost the child again. He could hear its infuriating patter as it speedily crawled along the vent. Every now and then the noise stopped and high pitch laughter was heard. 'Little critter is mocking me. Alright time to see what these babies can really do.' Matt thought to himself.

He placed his arms down and allowed his new tentacles to reach the floor. He watched curiously as his new limbs moved sluggishly under his command. Slowly his body rose above the ground. Matt smiled, 'Excellent.' He could afford to move slowly at first, he had already seen what these things could do. The tentacles moved gingerly on the fleshy floor. The claws at the end grabbed at the floor, pulling him along.

He gradually grew quicker and quicker until he knew that he was moving faster than the kid could. 'Alright. Fun time is at an end youngling.' He tried walking on a wall and found that he could move just as quickly. 'Now for the big one.' With that he started running on the ceiling, the tentacles moving at a gallop. 'Now this is my territory.'

Soon he had caught up with the runaway Nate. "You're mine now little one." He called.

The baby squealed and then changed direction. Matt growled 'I am getting sick of this.' He cut through the wall with the tentacles that were free and flew into nothing.

The only thing present in the void was the heating vent. Matt fell spinning through the void certain that his destruction was imminent. 'CLANG.' Matt felt a sharp jolt to his body as the tentacles reached out and clung onto the rusty vent. He could hear the child approaching and immediately resumed the chase.

The wall behind him looked like a speck in the distance as he looked out from the eyes on the back of his head. The two creatures sped along, their bodies becoming blurs. Little baby Nate was enjoying his freedom. The child was now using its umbilical tentacles, having a great time playing chases with the big thing.

Lights shone in the distance. Matt strained his eyes to see them. There were multiple doorways up ahead. Not far in front, the pipe split up as well. 'Great now where's he gonna go?' Matt sped along to the junction and swung himself on top to crouch like a hideous fleshy gargoyle. He waited for the light patter of small appendages.

* * *

Ripples spread across the murky, green-lit water as Patricia waded through the tunnel. She had been wading for what seemed a long time and was starting to get fed up. She sneezed again and sniffled, 'Great. Now I'm getting the cold as well. Next time I see Gerry I'm putting in for a transfer to a Barbados or Spain division. God I hope we have those.'

She heard a scuttling and splashing coming from somewhere in the distance. Apart from the dim green glow of the water the tunnel was pitch black. She was conserving the torch batteries for when she needed them. Now seemed as good a time as any. 'After all it might be a survivor. If they see the light they'll at least know someone else is down here. Damn but I miss people.' Patricia hit the black switch, lighting up the tunnel.

She was coming to a bend in the tunnel. Patricia was unsure that she wanted to go any further when a multitude of shadows and red specks showed up in the water just a few meters away. She nearly screamed when she realised what they were. 'Eww, Eww, Rats. Crap where's a weapon when you need one? A flamethrower would be nice right now. Maybe they won't see me as well in the dark.'

Patricia quickly flicked the torch off and pressed herself against the tunnel wall so hard that she could feel every crevice of the cold stonewall. Her breathing became quicker as she edged towards the wave of hairy, vicious monsters. The green glow was now clouded over as thousands of rats rushed in a squeaking, diseased ridden wave of teeth, claws, bristles and wormlike tails towards Patricia.

Trying not to show fear she kept as still as she could, gasping sharply now and again whenever one of the creatures brushed against her leg, whipping her with its tail. Some of the rats sensed her heat and decided to explore. They crawled up her legs. Patricia tried picking them up in frantic movements and throwing them back into the shadowy wave.

She was becoming more and more distraught by the second. She knew that she was close to breaking down but also knew that she couldn't afford to; not in this place. One of the more agile rats worked its way up into her hair, knocking her glasses into the water.

Her face paled and she froze. She could feel them under her right foot but made sure that she didn't step on them. Tears were streaming down her face as she cursed her luck. Patricia knew what she had to do. She kept her feet at either side of the glasses and slowly lowered herself into the torrent of rats.

She felt sharp nips as the creatures bit at the invader. Loud high-pitched squeals were heard and the surge swiftly changed direction. Even with blurred vision Patricia knew what was happening. She yelped and dived under the icy cold water, desperately snatching at empty space before finally feeling the frames of her glasses and grabbing onto them as hard as she could.

She swam away from the swarm as far and as fast as she could without having to take a breath. She couldn't wade or she would surely be devoured. 'That's it. If I get out of this, no more full time, no suits and I'm definitely switching to contacts.' She came up for air and was immediately met by scrabbing claws and small, sharp teeth.

They were everywhere, each one scrambling over the other to get to her. Patricia knew she couldn't take much more of this as she dived down once more into the icy water. She saw what had to be one of the sources for the green light when she put her glasses to her face.

It was a small skull on the tunnel floor. A green flame burned steadily in it's mouth. Patricia recognised it as the igneous fatuous. The lights that lead the way to the land of the dead. Suddenly the splashing and churning above her had stopped. She looked up to see that the rats had scurried off elsewhere. She stood up, the water still waist deep.

In front of her was the entrance to a smaller tunnel. She saw it was lined with the flaming skulls a squeak sounded behind her to let her know that the rats were still there. Knowing that they must be afraid of whatever lay inside the tunnel and against her better judgement Patricia went in.

Large droplets of water obscured her vision as they slowly trickled down her glasses. She found that she had to hunch over to even fit in the tunnel, which was not an easy job as the stones were still slick. Although she was not so sure what they were slick with now as the slimy texture had become thicker.

Patricia quickly put those thoughts out of her mind and proceeded down the tunnel slowly. It was not long before she heard the crash of rushing water. 'I'd better be careful in case I slip and fall here.' This thought would have helped if she weren't pushed into the rapids. Tess Douglas smiled, wiped her hands and made her way back into the tunnel complex.

* * *

Robert Corn methodically combed his jet-black hair back with gel. He washed his hands, looked up at the mirror, fixed his nose back into place and gave a winning smile. 'Oh yeah that's the magic. I've still got it. Not bad for two hundred and fifty three.' Corn was well built and tanned. His dark eyes had a hypnotic quality about them. He tried to look like the crooners from the good old days, as it was a time that he thought had the most style. The glamour spell he used to look good was potent but easy for a wizard of his strength to keep up.

A silvery voice floated into him from the luxurious penthouse bedroom. "Robert? Robert? You in here?"

Corn walked slowly to the bathroom entrance. "Yeah babe. Well? What's the news?"

Tess Douglas sauntered past the bed up to the debonair Corn. He loved the way she looked after doing something bad. She was wet and a little grubby. Her long, silky brown hair fell down past her shoulders encasing the face of a model with the most astonishing green eyes. Her shapely body was the main reason he had hired her as a personal assistant. He brushed her face with his hand, pushing her hair back over her shoulder.

She smiled at him, "Everything is going as planned. The chosen have yet to go through a few barriers. They are slower in that department than I expected."

Robert walked smoothly over to the room's minibar. "I take it you gave them the appropriate nudge in the right direction?"

Tess smiled secretively, "You could say that."

Robert offered her a drink, to which she declined. "That tunnel was a bit too dirty for me. I'm going for a shower." Robert watched as she removed her wet, cream suit to reveal lacy, red underwear. She unhooked her bra and held it out at arms length before raising an eyebrow and dropping the bra on the carpet. She slowly walked to the bathroom before turning around and smiling wanly, "Coming?" Corn gave a primal grunt before removing his towel and quickly following her.

* * *

Matt was unsure of how to bring this situation under control. He was in a territory that was unfamiliar to him. After waiting to see which way the child went he followed it to a large wooden gateway with stone pillars. Torches with blue flames constantly burned at either side of the gate.

Matt entered the gate cautiously. It seemed the child had gotten in somewhere else as the vent led underground for a time. Matt was unsure what to think when his feet touched soil. It had been so long since he had been in a forest. He knew it was that of Silent Hill as Hugo had brought more than building materials back with him. He had brought back a few books that were of interest, especially to Mr Nathaniel.

The boy poured over the books, noting every little change. Laughing when he read about the numerous disappearances that had become the norm in the area. It seemed that the power there lay dormant for a time and waited until the town was sufficiently popular before springing back to life and claiming the souls of thousands.

Matt on occasion got to look at the literature. The region had recently suffered an epidemic of mass disappearances. This fact seemed to drive Nate into a frenzy. He kept emphasising that there was little time to stake his claim and raise the chosen. Matt had no idea what the master meant but he knew that it was important. Nate often reminisced when he walked the passages of Nowhere. From those conversations Matt was sure that the realm he was in now had been created from Nate's own memory. The master was up to something. Something big.

Matt scrambled into the trees and idly swung along, as silently as was possible for a creature his size. He would find that child and then he would take care of whoever it was that was trying to hinder the master's plans. As he swung along he noticed a large number of mounds in the ground.

It looked like a primitive graveyard. The mounds were covered in what seemed to be a hard, red substance, similar to amber. When he looked closer Matt noticed that there was something inside. His curiosity piqued, Matt climbed down from his hiding place making sure to land softly.

He misted the red shell up and used his tentacles to scrape a layer off. Matt smiled when he saw the contents. It was another clone of Nate. This one however had more limbs than it should have had and was at the stage of an adolescent.

'This forest is huge. There must be an army of these things. I wonder what their purpose is? The master works in mysterious ways.' A blur of pink, moving between the mounds off to the right caught Matt's attention. 'Hah the hunt resumes.' Matt took to the trees again to pursue the little runt.

* * *

Patricia was disoriented and half drowned when she finally landed in another watery pool. Unfortunately the pool was shallow so she ended up hurting her rear end on entry. Above all she was pissed off. She had taken such care when she heard the rapids only to be pushed into their frothy currents. With all the tossing and turning she lost the torch again but on the bright side she had held onto her glasses. The torch had to be somewhere nearby as she didn't remember seeing any junctions on her way down.

She desperately tried to clean her glasses again while standing up in order to see where she had landed this time. As the droplets of water slowly ran down her glasses to the end of her button nose she wished that she hadn't kept the glasses, and promptly wretched.

Patricia had landed in a dome-like structure, which had six tunnels leading away from it. This place was the epicentre of the hellish green light as flaming skulls outlined the floor of the dome. The walls were made up of cold steel and glass tanks. Inside each tank there floated a grotesque little body. Each body was headless and still had an umbilical cord attached. Small bubbles came out of their necks.

Patricia knew better than to presume that they were dead. She discovered that her instincts were spot on when they started swimming closer to the glass. They were drawn to her body heat. Soft gurglings were heard coming from the centre of the room. It was from here the blaze burned brightest.

'This can't be real. This has to be a dream,' Patricia told herself over and over to keep herself from going out of her mind with fear and horror. In the middle of the room was a mound of skulls and decaying infant's heads covered with green flames. Patricia couldn't help but wretch again at the sight. She got up to make her way to one of the exit tunnels when she caught sight of something that made her back up to the wall, in order to get as far away from the thing as possible.

On top of the mound, breathing deeply as it slept, was a large grey rat about the size of a large family car. It's pink tail twitched violently now and again as if it were dreaming. Quiet high pitched whistling came from the rat as it slept.

Patricia made slow movements, edging towards the tunnel. She could feel her heart racing and was afraid of it exploding. Ripples flowed away from her as she strafed around the outside of the room. The rhythmic sounds of droplets hitting puddles and bubbles emerging from the foetus' necks were the only sounds to be heard.

Patricia kept a watchful eye on the large vermin, its breathing in perfect time with the infants' bubbles. The bubbles came out whenever the rat exhaled. Patricia was uncomfortable that she found the sight fascinating in a gruesome way. She gasped as she slipped on one of the many skulls dotted around the edge of the room.

She fell backwards, slamming against the wall of tanks. She stayed still for a moment, holding her breath, making sure that the rat was still asleep. It yawned in its sleep, showing teeth the size of Patricia's arm. The only thing Patricia could hear in that moment was the beat of her heart as the blood rushed around her ears. "_Bah buh, Bah buh, Bah buh."_ "THUD, THUD, THUD."

Patricia screamed and jumped when something battered the glass behind her. She turned around to see the once serene floating corpses now battering against the glass with all their might in order to get to her. They writhed and squirmed in frustrated anger. More bubbles came out of the odd lumps of flesh with each new effort.

Desperate to get out of the room alive, Patricia now ran towards the tunnel nearest her, splashing water all around her. Squeals sounded from behind her. It was the cry of a hundred babies. The sound hurt Patricia's ears but she kept on running.

She was a good distance down the tunnel when she came to a bend. She followed the twists and turns of the tunnel, the cries of the slain echoing behind. A light shone in the water. It was the torch. Thankful for small mercies she picked it up and flicked it on. She pumped her legs as fast as she could.

She turned around another bend only to have glaring green light greet her like a diseased old man hugging a prom queen. Hope was gone. The tunnels were connected. She had to try and reach the real exit. She was now wholly determined that she wasn't going to die here. 'Stupid fortune teller said nothing about this.'

She saw where the cries were coming from. It was the nest of flaming heads. The flames burned higher with each cry and all the tanks were now bubbling a bit more. Patricia ran into the dome again and tried to duck into the nearest tunnel, hoping that it wouldn't be a dead end.

A massive roar shook the chamber making Patricia slip and fall. She got up slowly, trying to stay low and out if sight while backing towards the new tunnel. The tanks were now a frenzy of writhing bodies and bubbles.

The mass of sleek grey hair rose, sending screaming infant heads rolling into the water. The flames did not go out and bubbles rose as the screaming continued. The rat roared again causing rubble to block every tunnel except for the one that it was blocking. Patricia dived as the rubble fell. She looked at the new situation. 'What the hell?' Patricia thought, 'That can't be a coincidence. I must have to fight this thing. Oh God how am I going to do this?'

The pink whip of a tail snaked over the heads, muffling some of the screamers as the hideous beast turned to face Patricia. Its claws piercing and crushing skulls as it moved around were yellow with rotted scraps of flesh. It was sniffing the air for her.

Finally it faced her and a shudder ran through her body when it opened its eyelids. Patricia stared into two red hellish globes the size of footballs, wondering how such an abomination could exist. 'That thing could probably swallow me whole and I don't even have a weapon. Let's hope it's not too quick on its feet. I wish that racket would stop. Man this place sucks. I gotta get outta here.'

Patricia's optimistic hope about the rat's lethargic speed was short lived. It scurried over to Patricia within seconds. It's long nose sniffed around her, taking in her scent in short, sharp breaths. Long strings of drool hung from it's foul maw. The front teeth ripped holes in Patricia's jacket as it sniffed around her.

Patricia stayed as still as possible, hoping that the diseased ridden monstrosity wouldn't break the skin. She shivered a bit, repulsed by the things touch. Without warning the creature roared again. Patricia in a moment of panic leapt to the side and bolted for the exit.

The tail caught her and sent her into the mass of screaming heads. Her hand landed on something cold thin and hard. It was a small key made out of bone. She nearly laughed with a bittersweet joy at the irony of the situation. She was about to die with the key to freedom in her hands and the door less than a hundred footsteps away.

She could hear the crunching of bone and the wet cracking of skin covered skulls being crushed underfoot as the creature advanced. 'Not gonna die here. Not gonna die here.' Patricia built herself up and when she felt it's breath on her she flipped. Picking up the nearest skull she flung it at the beast.

She didn't even have time to realise that the flames were cold to the touch. Nor did she see that the bodies of some of the infants had exploded in a cloud of red liquid and fleshy strips whenever their skulls were crushed. The new red taint to the chambers light made the rat look more menacing. Patricia didn't care as she continued to pelt the thing with screaming heads.

The bubbles in the tanks were now so many and so violent that a few exploded with the pressure. Small red and green waterfalls flowed down the walls of glass and steel as Patricia continued her unrelenting onslaught. The rat kept advancing. Suddenly it lunged into the screaming pile, launching itself at Patricia.

More tanks turned red. "Die you sonofabitch. Just die. You're not taking me." She screamed. The rat grabbed at her legs, scratching at them and drawing blood. Patricia screamed in pain. She dug deeper into the pile of screaming, cadaverous faces to escape the beast. The rat was in hot pursuit. It became confused as her scent became mingled in the pile. The rat stopped to sniff. Its pink nose rooted about the flaming skulls until finally it found something new…fingers.

Patricia shoved the pile of heads in front of her out of the way. She held a skull in her hand and thrust it into the creature's throat. "Choke on it." This time Patricia's optimism held out as choking sounds came from the enormous vermin. As the rat choked the bubbles became more violent. Glass shattered and rained down on the pile, some of the bigger shards cutting into Patricia as she desperately crawled out of the rats nest.

One by one the flames were going out and yet smoke poured from the rat. Patricia painfully waded over to the door, key grasped in one hand, torch in the other. There was a loud squeal of pain followed by harsh wheezing. Patricia was a few strides from the door when the wheezing stopped.

At that moment there was a thunderous noise as crashing glass and gallons of blood rushed to fill the chamber all at once. Patricia fumbled with the key and didn't even hear the click of the door unlocking, as a solid wall of blood, glass, flesh and bone hurtled towards her.

She slowly pried the door open, water spilling through as she did so. As soon as she could she slipped through and threw her weight into closing it again. She locked it just before feeling a huge force hit the door, smashing and cracking the frame.

The now worn, weary and tattered Patricia composed herself as best she could. The wood of the door started to groan under the pressure. 'Ok I've had it with this nightmare. Time to get out of here and back to normality. Come on girl, wake up.' She closed her eyes and slapped herself across the right cheek. Upon opening her eyes she nearly fainted.

A huge grin spread across her face. She was standing in an office. Everything was normal. The bloody water was no longer leaking through the door but the frame was still cracked. She looked at her arms and legs. The scratches were still there. At that moment she knew she would never sleep peacefully again. 'Fisk was right. The dream can hurt you. I have to get something to keep me awake or I'll surely die the next time I nod off. First I have to get out of here.'

When she found them the doors that lead out to the staircase were locked. Her carefully built emotional barriers crumbled and Patricia was reduced to hopeless tears. She cried long, hard sobs as she battered the doors. She had not cried like this since _that_ night. The night when she decided to abandon emotion and throw her life into her career. When she had no more strength to batter the doors she found a desk to sit at and slumped over the desk. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. A faint ringing caught her attention. It was the phone. Her hand trembling she picked it up "Hello?…"

* * *

End of chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Please R&R. Thanks to those that have been reading so far. More to come soon.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	7. Chapter 7

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 7: Smoke Break

Jack stood in the bleak corridors completely confused and dumbfounded. Everything had suddenly changed, this time it seemed, for the better. The corridors were still dank and stained but the fleshy lining had completely disappeared. Unfortunately he was still trapped.

'What now?' Jack knew better than to take this place at face value anymore. The place was still empty so far as he could see. The change was not that comforting. He felt like he was being lulled into a false sense of security. God he needed a cigarette.

He checked his pockets for his pack hoping that they hadn't fallen out during any of his previous scuffles. He was distracted by a flash of green light coming from a room further down the corridor on his right.

* * *

Cobb steadily made his way down the black marble stairs where the water flowed pure again. He had left a note by the boiler insisting that it was not to be touched until he returned. Needless to say he was sure that Corn would not be pleased at having his own fun interrupted but Cobb's partner had a knack for adapting to different circumstances. He could amuse himself in some form or another.

Right now the only thing that mattered was Josephine's health. He recalled his earlier encounter with her. She had looked paler than usual. He already knew why… she was dying. He could sustain her for a while longer but in his heart he knew that she didn't have long.

"Cornelius? Is that you? Come closer." He had obeyed. He would have gone to hell and back for her and he had already done so. The way things were going he might have to again. That was why they were in this odd predicament. She had strained to see him in the dawn's light.

"I can't see so well anymore. My eyes itch something awful. I think their use has nearly run out. Please be a darling and fetch me a fresh pair." Cornelius had checked her over with care making sure that it was just her eyes that were going. Thankfully she wasn't too bad yet.

He knew the chosen were at fault here. He had been watching their progress and they were too slow by far. If Josephine was going to make it they would have to be pushed along further. Neither one had woken up to their sins. Both had buried them so deep in their subconscious. They had both made it so that the incidents had never happened. They would have to suffer a little more before he, Corn and Nate could bring about the ritual of crossing.

He fished a crow's foot out of his left inside pocket and absently twirled it about in his hand. He smiled a thoughtful little smile before walking down the stairs again towards special studies. A large rusted grey door with the name of Hermes inscribed on the front suddenly appeared in front of Cobb to block his path. The hinges creaked loudly as it opened. Robert Corn stepped out looking slightly miffed. "And just what do you think you are up to Cornelius?"

* * *

Jack was dying for a cigarette, just to get things in focus. He had failed in his earlier search for a cigarette. Problem was that the search just resulted in making him more desperate for one. On the upside he had found the room with the source of the strange green light.

It was a photocopying room. It contained some shelves stacked with various blocks of paper. There were two photocopiers, one for smaller copy jobs the other was for larger copies. He pulled out one of the larger sheets to see how much the thing could take. The page was about as big as himself.

There was also a guillotine table. The blade of which moved across the edge of the table, obviously meant for cutting the large sheets of paper. Jack smirked. "Heavy duty stationary huh? What do they expect me to do here? Blind monsters with a photocopier and staple them to death?"

The small copier was still in full swing. Jack wondered over to it to see if he could shut it off. The number of copies programmed in was the sign for infinity. There was no visible off switch.

Curiosity got the better of him and he lifted the top of the copier up to see what it was copying. It was a small promotional leaflet for the building. That C4 sign was on the pamphlet and the authors name was a Rodger Widmark.

"_From the people who brought you Wish House, Blue Creek Apartments, Lakeside Hotel and South__ Ashfield__ Heights. Now comes a building that you will actually want to work in. Funded by the 4S society, no expense has been spared in the construction of this building. Paradise Tower makes work a luxury to the point where workers will fight hard to stay for overtime. _

_The owners of the construction company and the building are the only permanent residents. The rest of the building will be state of the art working environments for different offices. _

_Local artists from the peaceful town of Silent Hill have got together with__ Godspell__ Architects to design a magnificent spectacle that is as practical as it is pleasing to the eyes. The building is scheduled for completion in 2005._

_Office spaces will only be available for a limited time as it is expected that they will be quickly snapped up. So buy now and don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to work in such luxurious surroundings. Contact C4 or__ Widmark__ Properties for further details."_

Jack put down the leaflet in shock. 'I didn't know that we were called in on this project. Must have been before I joined. 4S from Silent Hill is funding it? What would a town like that want with West Fairbank? Hmmm.'

Jack did not notice that his left arm and head had been copied and that the small pages now drifted over to the big copier. It was if an invisible hand was carrying them.

A chill ran down Jack's neck when he heard a whirring noise coming from behind him. He turned to see the sheets slot themselves in the big copier to be scanned. Jack looked up and realised that the air conditioning had just come on.

His torso now floated over. The strange thing was that his left arm, head and torso had slot together on the big copier as if a puzzle were being fit together. Jack was suitably freaked out and started to try and remove the pages.

'Must've copied me when I reached to get the pamphlet.' The pages were not budging. Jack took a tug of war stance to get more leverage. Suddenly a power cord whipped around from the small copier and started dragging his legs towards it.

'What the hell is going on? I thought everything was normal again. Damn this building.' Before long his legs were copied as well as his right arm from struggling to get free from the tight plastic grip of the cord. The whirring of the big copier continued in the background. Jack's eyes were starting to get sore from the constant glaring, green light.

The remaining pages inevitably floated over and slid into the big copier. One of the big pages that Jack looked at earlier made its way over now. Jack tried to stop the blank sheet desperately by grabbing its edge. His only reward was a large deep cut between his left thumb and finger. The blood seeped onto the page.

He quickly retracted his hand to suck on the wound. "Sonofabitch." The cord released him, making him fall to the smooth, hard, cream floor. He got up and dusted himself off to watch in horror as he was copied.

Jack fumbled in his pocket and produced a book of matches. There were three left. He smiled and rushed over to the big copier. It was a small room so he didn't have far to go.

He struck the first match as quickly as he could…and cursed as it broke in half with the force he used. 'Damn. Too strong.' He let out a cry of joy when the second one lit and was quickly let down when a blast of icy wind from the air conditioner put it out.

The whirring stopped. A large page dropped to the ground. Jack looked at it. It was him all right, only darker. Jack had a sneaking suspicion what was going to happen next. He was soon proved right when a thin hand broke away from the sheet and placed its two dimensional fingers on the floor.

His doppelganger was complete. It folded parts of itself so that it could stand up to face him. Jack realised what he was worrying over and laughed. 'I could easily take this oversized paper dart down.' The doppelganger shook its head making a scrunching sound.

It slowly proceeded to draw its left hand across part of its right index finger. A small split began to appear. Pain gathered at the same area of Jack's own hand. 'Aww crap.' The doppelganger smiled when it saw Jack realise exactly what he was up against.

The paper clone folded its right hand into a point and came at Jack, hoping to stab him and cut him to ribbons. Jack dodged as best as he could but the thing still managed to cut him. His arms were the worst as he held them up to protect himself.

He noticed that the clone was being cut as well. It didn't seem to care though. It was oblivious to the pain. Jack could see a glimpse of pulsing red colour on the clone and realised that it was the doppelganger's heart. The creature smiled evilly and started making thin slices across it.

Jack's pulse quickened dramatically and a pain coursed through him as if a thousand knives stabbed at his body in unison. The clone seemed to be laughing yet no sound came from its dark paper lips. 'He's enjoying this. That sick, twisted psycho is enjoying this.'

Through the pain a voice spoke to him from the corridor. "Come with me Jack. I can help you." A delicate, pale hand reached out to him. Jack couldn't see past the elbow of his rescuer. The pain was blurring his vision but he was very glad of the help when it came.

Jack was pulled to his feet and shoved against a cold wall in the corridor. "Wait here a second." There were noises of a struggle and a dull pain developed in his stomach, before he heard a door closing and the delicate hand came for him again. It was slightly bloodied this time. "Damn it." The voice cursed, "It's escaping through the crack under the door."

"Who are you?" Jack asked as he desperately tried to keep up. His rescuer said nothing, as she was too busy looking for something. Her face brightened when she saw it; a large wooden door with a metal plate on it. Blue printed writing read "Smoke Room."

Jack was puzzled but also happy at the same time. He would finally get a smoke but that thing was still on their tails. "How can you think of smoking at a time like this?" His rescuer looked back and seemed frustrated with his continual questioning.

"Just shut up and get in there. The draft excluder should keep him out and whatever you do try to stay quiet until I get back." Jack nodded and quickly got into the room. The lights automatically came on.

Tess quickly shut the door and locked it before calmly walking back up the corridor, past the clone. "Not yet little one. Soon but not yet."

* * *

Robert and Cornelius walked up a set of what was now spiral stairs. They had been square to start off with but the temporal distortion and Corn's imagination had changed all that. Robert Corn was definitely more at home when he was in Nowhere.

"Well old man? What's the panic? Has Nowhere driven you to your wits end already?"

Cornelius waved at the air to dismiss the remark. "You forget where I come from. It is you who will be the novice when we go back to the Hill. You will have to learn to survive without your powers. When we get to Silent Hill you may find your powers diminished so enjoy them while you can."

This remark did not put Robert in the best of moods. "So why the need for change? I was having fun."

Cobb sighed. "It may be fun and games for you but I need my Josephine to live. To do that I need the chosen to progress through their ordeals. The sooner the better. Josephine is weakening. The man…"

Corn interrupted him, "Ahh you mean the illustrious Mr Keller it take it?"

Cobb nodded, "Yes. Well he couldn't get through the maze so I gave him a helping hand by throwing the switch and instructing your Tess to get him into the smoke room. Which reminds me…"

Corn rolled his eyes, "Now what?"

Cobb tried to look humble; "I need to ask a favour of you. May I borrow your instruments of metamorphosis?"

Robert looked at Cornelius in puzzlement, "For the chosen one?" Cobb nodded and reiterated, "For the chosen one."

Corn flicked his wrists and produced two rods. He handed them solemnly to Cobb. "Be careful with them and hurry up. I prefer my tower in the realm of Nowhere's beauty." Cobb nodded and turned into the nearest corridor to get the lift.

Corn stopped him when he was about to press the button. "Cornelius."

Cobb turned to face him. "What?"

"Have fun." The elevator pinged and light splashed into the hall as the doors opened. Cobb smiled briefly before getting into the lift and heading down towards the second floor.

Green eyes in the reflection greeted him. "Hello Sharon. I trust you are well?" She didn't answer. She would never answer. Her mouth was sown shut. She was one of Robert's secretaries. Forgetting to tell him something proved a bad move. Cobb liked her presence in the lift though. It was comforting to have someone else with you in this tower. The doors closed and the lift shuddered into action.

* * *

Jack kept his eyes on the bottom of the door. He listened to the quiet rustles of the clone pacing the corridor outside. After a while the sounds faded to nothing. There was nothing Jack could do until the woman came back to unlock the door. He turned his head slowly as he got up to look around the room.

The once white walls were stained an ugly shade of yellow. A pungent odour circulated in the air. That wasn't what was catching Jack's attention though. Jack was more focused on the multitude of plaster faces coming out of the wall. It was a bizarre sight to behold. One continuous string ran from a fire alarm near the ceiling, to weave around the faces, sewing up their lips and eyelids. In the corner of the room was a coffee table, breaking up the line of chairs running around the outside of the room.

Jack sat down beside the table to catch his breath. When he did he noticed something beside one of the faces. Someone had etched "If only these walls could talk," into the wall with the pair of scissors that sat on the coffee table. There was also another Widmark pamphlet on the table. This one seemed to promote an orphanage in Silent Hill.

'Ok. Definite theme in this place. It's as if I'm being called to this town. I wonder what is so important about Silent Hill? Maybe there's a way to stop all this madness there. Hmm." Jack tossed the pamphlet back onto the table. 'If I'm going to end this it's no use just waiting here. Maybe this string thing is a puzzle.' He picked up the pair of rusted scissors from the table and started snipping at the string beside one of the larger faces.

He was tense. His gut told him that the faces were not always stationary but in this place it did not surprise him. He hurried to do it before the place turned into a nightmare again. 'Who knows what these creepy things can do in the other realm.'

Snip… Jack made the last cut to the old bit of string. A clinking let Jack know that his efforts had been successful. It was something kept up behind the fire bell. Jack reached up and behind the bell to find a tarnished key tied to the other end of the string. Jack sighed. 'I knew it was too easy.' He started pulling the string, making it thread out of the faces. More faces were freed of their ropy prison. The excess string started looping on the floor beside Jack.

He had got about a quarter of the faces freed when another noise sounded. Jack knew this one instantly and he had come to hate it. Sirens… for a moment everything was the same, but Jack knew better than to relax. Sure enough a couple of seconds later a fog started pouring through the keyhole. It reminded Jack of the old vampire movies that were put on T.V. now and again, back when he had a life.

He was quick to arm himself with the scissors. 'They may not be a stake but at least they have a point.' Fog continued to pour into the room as Jack waited for it to take form. No form came. Soon Jack couldn't see an inch in front of his face.

Swirls of grey and white danced in front of him as he tried to waft some of it away from him. It was thick, as tar or porridge is thick. The sirens grew louder to an almost deafening volume. Jack felt something quick and sharp slice across his left hand, making him drop the scissors. The clatter as they hit the ground was inaudible above the sirens.

Jack brought his hand up to his face, keeping a tight grip on the key with his right hand. Three smalls, deep cuts ran across the back of his hand. He started sucking the wounds. The sirens started to die down and suddenly Jack was aware that the key in his right hand was not attached to string any more.

It was still string like but it felt a bit more slick and had a bit more give then the string did. 'Here we go again. I'd best get the hell out of here while I can.' Jack grabbed the scissors and put them in his pocket before proceeding to pull as hard as he could on the weird cord. He brought the cord up and almost dropped it in disgust. 'It's muscle. Holy crap what happened here? Come on Jackie boy pull yourself together. You have to get out of this hell hole and fast.'

Jack increased his rate of pulling. A horrible low, dirty "CAW!" announced the presence of his attacker. 'It's a crow, nothing but a damn crow. Just ignore it, keep moving.' Another swipe was made at his hand. Jack kept pulling, he tried to duck whenever he heard the swooping attacker. His hands started to bleed more freely as he put more effort in.

The loops of muscle on the ground seemed to suck each droplet of blood up with a ravenous hunger. Jack looked at the amount of muscle on the floor. 'Should be enough. Now to get out.' Jack made a dive for the door only to find that the muscle was still attached to the bell. 'Oh you are kidding me. I have to pull it all out? Crappy day.'

Jack continued to pull the muscle, not noticing some of the loops on the floor starting to twitch and slide. The crow swooped again, followed by something else. Jack didn't know what it was, but it knocked him back into a chair.

Within seconds the muscle cord whipped up around him and bound him to the chair. Jack struggled for all he was worth. All it achieved was more blood letting, which enhanced the muscle that bound him. He sat there as weak as a kitten, expecting the worst.

A dark chuckle drifted out to him from out of the fog. It was too close for comfort. Jack's eyes darted around the room keeping watch for the presence. "CAW." Wild fluttering was heard from somewhere near followed by a silence. The silence freaked Jack out more than the noise. The last thing Jack saw with his fearful eyes was a pair of sharp black talons.

Jack's eyes came away with a muffled "Schlock" as the crow ripped them from his sockets. Jack screamed a high, agonizing scream. The blood flowed down his face. Coppery blood started to fill his mouth. He clenched his teeth, shut his mouth and started to breathe harshly through his nose. His world was black, he could not move and he was not alone. He didn't know how things could get worse. Then they did. The voice started talking.

"Hello Jack. I am pleased to finally meet you face to face. My colleague has told me so much about you. Heh. Quite the interesting study."

Jack did not recognise the voice. It wasn't the sicko on the phone, though he obviously knew him. This voice sounded older. The call of the crow brings Jacks mind back into focus. "Who are you?"

The old man put the eyes into a small, old fashioned wallet, which he had looped onto the right side of his belt. "Who I am is of no importance. What you do after I leave however. Now that is crucial."

Jack writhed in pain, his sockets were still burning. "You mean you're not going to kill me?"

Cobb tsked. "My my Robert was right. It seems you are a bit slow. No matter. A bit of relaxation should jog your memory."

Jack was puzzled, "What the hell does that mean? And what can I do when you leave? You have my eyes you sick bastard. Aaagh."

Cobb's tone became frustrated; "I don't take kindly to that sort of language young man. You had better keep that tongue clean or my friend here will take that too." Jack flinched when the crow announced its eagerness to perform the task. "Just sit there and relax a while. Anyway all work and no play makes Jack a very dead boy. See you soon. By then I hope you will be a lot smarter. Goodbye Mr Keller."

The sound of smoke escaping continued for a while. The muscle still held Jack. It was almost crushing him as the blood fed it. Suddenly hundreds of differently pitched voices talked at once. Jack knew who they were. It was the other victims that this room had claimed. The noise was maddening. After a while they died down at the request of one particularly deep voice.

"My name is Montrellan. I am probably the only friend you have at this point in time. I have an offer for you. Are you willing to listen?" Jack sounded unhappy, "Yeah sure. Its not like I can do anything else." Something in the room smiled. "I am so glad to hear that..."

* * *

End of Chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	8. Chapter 8

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 8: The Pitter-Patter of little feet

Patricia put the phone down. Her bright red lips quivered as she took in the conversation that had just taken place. The good side of it all was that there was an exit. The bad news was that she might not survive long enough to see it. What did he mean "abandonment issues?" The puzzle presented to her was nowhere near solving but if what she heard on the phone was true she would have to work fast or death would come for her. With no way out that she could see she decided to explore her surroundings.

She came upon a small kitchen. 'Right. Time for coffee methinks.' It was a really small kitchen compared to the size of the office. That didn't stop them from fitting in all the modern conveniences of the day. All the important and large devices were built into the wall so there was enough space to use the workbench and the sink. Patricia searched the cupboards for a mug before putting it under the small nozzle of the coffee machine and hitting the start button. The machine immediately came to life making boiling sounds before eventually pouring a steady, black stream into the mug. It gurgled as the liquid fell, splashed and swirled in the cup.

She tensed whenever the machine stopped pouring but the gurgling noise continued. The volume rose so much that it sounded like a monster awakening from a deep sleep. The noise was coming from the sink. Thinking that perhaps this office was safer she peeked her head over the sink and squealed when an eyeball rose out of the plughole to float in a pool of viscous green fluid. 'How is that possible? What the hell is this about? Why can't I just get out of here?'

She started to run for the windows when a thin, slimy tendril wrapped itself around her ankle and pulled, bringing her screaming to the floor. The tendril was not there when she looked for it, yet she could most definitely feel it's vile presence gripping her leg.

A click on the intercom speakers was followed by the voice of an old man.

"We apologise for any inconveniences caused by this short interlude. We will now resume normal services." Click. With that said the faint screaming of sirens sounded and started to get louder. Patricia looked about in despair as the room started to change into the nightmare world she thought she had escaped from.

Living darkness started to flow from the computer screens. The Windows screensaver took on a horribly literal form as the computer proceeded to let Patricia catch sight of horrible things in the darkness. The now visible tendril hoisted Patricia up so that she was now dangling upside down in mid air. She writhed like a worm on a hook. Her struggling soon ceased when the sirens stopped and the sound of breaking glass could be heard coming from somewhere in the room. She couldn't tell exactly where, as she was spinning. Her eyes soon adjusted to the darkness and did not like what they saw.

Different creatures were busy clawing their way out of the screens. The most disturbing thing about the scene was that they were wearing suits. Some of the more unusual ones that couldn't really wear suits wore party hats. Tentacles, claws and spindly legs crept through the screens as if nothing were unusual about doing so. Patricia slowed down and stopped spinning but the room around her didn't. She was still very dizzy. The screens didn't crack as the claws and appendages grabbed on to the sides of the computers. The dim light of the office reflected off the black puddles. The screens were still solid though as they bent to accommodate the demons filling the room.

A winged creature with one arm approached her. Its body was that of a skinned child with a rat's head. It sniffed around her cautiously as if taking in her scent could poison it.

"This is new" it said in a raspy voice. "This meat still has life. I haven't tasted anything with quite so much fear in it. Do you think he would mind if I had a nibble?"

A larger creature with four arms, no legs and a shiny gold party hat replied from the mouth in its chest with the voice of a child. "Of course he'd mind. You can't just go around breaking his toys like that. It is incredibly rude."

The rat child stuck its tongue out. "Goody two shoes." It turned around and studied Patricia for a short time. "Hmm. All right then. How about a game of Punishment Piñata?"

Another creature looked at the rat child funnily. "Punishment Piñata? Screw that lets just torture her."

The gathering voiced their approval except for the four armed creature.

"Don't break his pet. Look at it I bet it's only a couple of decades old. You know how temperamental and fragile these things can be. Their minds are barely putty."

The rat child gave a low growl. "Don't worry. We will go easy on her."

Some of the other guests were grabbing handfuls of black goop from the screens and smearing it on the floor directly beneath Patricia. Vague shapes moved slowly in the liquid. They had the colour and rancid smell of diseased flesh about them. The yellowing shapes moulded together and began to surface, the dark liquid allowing them to ascend. A deformed figure of a small girl arose. The dark matter gave her hair that changed to whatever she wanted it to be. It smelled of garbage water. The one thing that got her attention most of all though was the eyes. They intrigued her, pierced her, seemed as if they were part of her. When enough of the sludge had trickled away Patricia could see that it wore the uniform of her old elementary school. The one she had wanted her children to go to if she could have had any.

The thing before her opened its arms and spoke letting black garbage water trickle down its discoloured chin.

"Mommy," the impossible thing said, hugging her tightly.

'But how?' Patricia thought. 'I remember the doctors saying there was nothing they could do. They said after the accident that there was no way I could have a child. How is this possible?' The small girl looked at Patricia in her disbelief.

"Did you forget me mummy? I haven't forgotten you. I've been waiting so long for you to come and play with me." The monsters gathered in the room began to mock Patricia.

"Yeah mommy. Play with me too."

"What happened to you? I…I don't remember."

The small girl slapped her and with the slap a small portion of her memory was restored. A memory lodged so far away in the recesses of her mind that she had convinced herself that it never happened. Patricia's eyes widened as she was bombarded with revelation. A picture of a doctor holding an ultrasound flashed across her mind. The other creatures watched the scene unfold, sucking up the high emotion like a cat would take in the smell of a Christmas turkey cooking. The crowd savoured every last drop of it.

"Still don't remember me mom? You don't remember the pain we caused each other?" The girl slapped her again.

"Daphne." The name resounded in her head.

"I remember your name."

The girl said nothing for a while. Anger filled her. "I was given no name. My fate is now one with the darkness I was spawned from. Here let me show you what happened."

The small girl glided along the dark puddle until she was right underneath her supposed mother. Patricia shut her eyes and braced herself for more abuse. When nothing happened she opened one eye and looked around. The audience of monsters sat perfectly still waiting for something that they knew was close. The silence was broken with a wet slap followed by the sound of something peeling as the girl split in half from the top down to her stomach revealing her to be nothing but a huge jaw for something else mostly concealed by the darkness below. A long, wet, red snake coiled around Patricia's neck. Its touch gently sucked at her skin.

The smell of decay became overpowering and before she knew what was going on she was surrounded by teeth. She screamed whenever the mouth started to close. It did not snap her up though. No this was a slow fading of the light to induce fear, which it succeeded in doing. As the giant jaws slowly shut upon their prey the red tongue started licking and sucking at the pores in Patricia's skin in an effort to dig the fear out. Patricia closed her eyes tightly, letting darkness take her before the end came.

White light made her open them again. She took in her surroundings. It was the hospital ward she had stayed in when she was in labour.

'Oh my God. I was in labour. I had a child.' Patricia couldn't understand how or why she had forgotten. The little girl walked into the room slowly, a menacing aura pulsing from her presence.

"You made a promise to yourself mummy. Remember? I was so weak and you couldn't give me any love. The bad men left you with a gift you couldn't keep."

"I thought I was strong enough but when I saw you I just couldn't…" Patricia found it impossible to get anything else out of her mouth apart from "So so sorry." Bitter tears of remorse flooded her eyes as wave after wave of memory hit her.

The child began to laugh.

* * *

Jack stood in the smoke room. The silence, except for the occasional rustle of paper in the corridor, was almost deafening. The faces had shut their mouths as they couldn't help but stare in awe of the sight before them. The blind man was staring intently at his hands. His eye sockets were filled with living flames.

"What did you do?" Jack asked, seemingly talking to no one.

'Well for a start you have your eyes back, there are other things but we will cover that later. For now you need to know that I can only help you in the presence of the darkness. If you escape this then you will have to deal with your blindness. I am not offering a permanent way out.'

"What are you getting out of this?"

'That is a private matter between me and the master of this tower and his peons. His name is Nathaniel. I once thought he was dead but it seems that a couple of wizards have given him a big comeback. The first is a certain Robert Corn. You have already seen what he can do. Incidentally his partner is the one who collected your eyes not so long ago. You have to understand that you have lost your sight and there is no getting it back unless you can convince Mr Cobb to give it back to you of his own free will. However that possibility is so minute it isn't worth even considering so you just have to deal with it.'

"Got it."

'I can help you on the other side, however it is at the cost of control over your body.'

"Right. Can we go and kill that paper mockery now?"

Montrellan laughed darkly in the back of Jack's mind.

'The Gods gave me an eager one this time. Excellent. I could do with a change of pace. I want you to give me control so I can show you what to do and how it is done here. Your path is not an easy one let me assure you.'

"I am fully aware of that. The last few hours have not exactly been a walk in the park." Jack let himself slip into the darkness of his mind. His body seemed to stretch of its own accord. Muscles tensed and skin stretched.

"Ahh not a bad fit. Ok let's depart this place shall we?"

Montrellan walked towards the door with a deliberate and confident stride. He ran his palm over it taking in each subtle texture the cheap wooden door had to offer him.

"It's been a while since I last took corporeal form. I relish the pleasures of the flesh." He drew a circle in the air with his fingers and spoke in a strange tongue. Jack tried to memorise the words and how they sounded.

"WOLLOF EM YM REHTORB. MODEERF SEIL NI TIAW. WOLLOF EM YM REHTORB. HGUORHT SIHT HSILLEH ETAG. ERIS." When the last syllable was pronounced a large metal portcullis with a circular frame appeared. There was a chain pulley system hanging from the left side. Montrellan quickly gave it a strong tug and the gate began to rise. In an instant the room filled with fire, blowing the door right off its hinges. Jack thought he saw shapes moving in the fire as if it were living.

'What is it?'

"They are fire demons. They are my brethren and right now they are the best chance of your escape." Jack understood the last part all too well.

He walked out into the corridor where the paper clone was standing, waiting for him. It did not smile as much this time but neither did it back down. It made a sharp incision in its wrist in an attempt to cause Jack to bleed to death. However instead of the blood it intended to let a spurt of fire shot out. The clones eyes lit up with fear.

"I think he understands now what he has got himself into." Montrellan said menacingly. The clone began to run but Montrellan simply flicked his wrist so that a jet of flame shot out like a flamethrower. The clone put its hands over its head in a futile gesture of self defence. The fire consumed the creature in seconds.

Jacks body also burst into flame.

'Ahh. No this can't happen. I can feel the burning. I may have given you control but I can still feel it.'

"Cease that babbling I am trying to concentrate." The fire became as the sea against a shore, it lapped over his arms and head in waves. Slowly, ever so slowly Montrellan began curling up while chanting a mantra of,

"ERIF OTNI EM. ERIS." The orange and yellow flames died down to a comfortable glow and soon it was as if the fire was never there.

'Wow that was effective.'

Montrellan grinned. "You haven't seen anything yet child. Here take the reigns for a while." Jack felt complete again instead of just a back seat driver. Montrellan kept talking to him though. No matter how much Jack was trying to take this in his stride he still couldn't get his head around the fact that he now had to share his body with another spirit.

He stopped thinking about it when he heard Montrellan speak.

'This is no time for pondering boy. You can worry about practicalities after all this is over. Right now we need to get out of here and we can't do that without the other.'

"What other?"

'Can't you feel her presence tugging at you? She is in trouble and we need to save her. The doorman won't let us pass otherwise.'

"What are you talking about?"

"_The two gatekeepers, whose souls will bring the armies of Nowhere back into God's country, must pass the tower of trials before they can be deemed as worthy_. It's part of the teachings of Samael written by a mad clairvoyant. What is happening now is destiny and you need to keep each other alive if you are going to have a chance at getting out."

Jack started walking. Montrellan's tone brightened.

'You can feel her can't you? Good. Find her quickly the pull is weak. I don't think we have much time.'

"What about this army business? I have no wish to assist any wars or invasions."

'If you die here then you cannot stop it and Nathaniel will find someone else. If I know him he already has plan B in effect too. If you survive and escape then there is still a chance to stop him.'

"How do you know all this?"

'The smoking room is always the best place in the office for gossip. Now if you don't mind I would suggest increasing your speed.'

"Fine. Let's do this thing then." Jack kicked the door to the stairs open and rushed up to where the call was drawing him towards.

* * *

End of chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	9. Chapter 9

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 9: Tug of War

Matt was in an exceptionally good mood as he half walked and half prowled Nowhere's corridors. His feet made squelching noises on the wet carpet. He had finally caught up to the child after a long chase through a forest. The trickiest part of which had led him to an extensive system of rabbit warrens. He had ended up playing a game of whack a mole before retrieving the child. Except instead of whacking the child he simply had to grab it. He had laid tentacles by the exit tunnels and looped them to make a set of primitive snares. Had he been less patient he would not have won the game and a squealing child would not be in his slimy grip.

Had he also paid more attention to where he was going as he walked the soggy office corridors he would have seen the bloated corpse of Wilson Fisk. Matt fell hard on the carpet, sending droplets of water. The child saw his moment of opportunity and wriggled free. He dashed down the flooded corridor with a "plish plish plish" laughing wildly.

"NO!" Matt growled as he punched the floor. He got to his feet and listened for the child but knew it was too late for that. He would have to start the search all over again. In anger he thrust a tentacle into Wilson's chest, sending up a spurt of black fluid. He picked the body up and flung it at the wall. Large cracks formed in the plaster where the body had hit before it fell to the floor with a wet slap.

"Stupid bloody carcasses. Why does no one ever clean up after themselves around here?" Matt muttered darkly to himself before taking up the chase again. At least it would be slightly easier this time.

He approached one of the heads in the stairwell.

"You know who I am?"

"If I could nod I would." The grotesque grinning face nailed to a pole somehow even freaked Matt out a little.

"Sarky git. Listen I need some information. A small child came by this way a short time ago. Did you see which way it went?"

"What did it look like?"

"It was running on tentacles."

"Oh then yes." The head stopped short.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Uugh." Matt punched a hole in the wall in anger. "Where did he go? Tell me now or so help me I will crush you like a paper cup." With that he wrapped a tentacle around the top half of the head.

"My, my testy aren't we?"

Matt's grip tightened.

"Ow, ow alright, alright. He went upstairs."

"Finally." Matt rushed off up the stairs at a blistering pace that was unusual for something his size.

"A thank you would have been nice." The head called after him.

"Bloody head," Matt muttered to himself, "I'll have no chance of finding him now." The sounds of party poppers drifted into his ears and a red balloon drifted out of an open door. Matt's three lips grinned. "You have got to be kidding me. His is a kid I suppose and what child can resist a good party?"

High pitched giggling sounded from behind the door.

"Hah, thought so." Matt dashed through the corridors to find the party before the giggling stopped.

There was a room ahead filled with monsters and banners with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHANIEL" smeared on with blood. Matt entered the room with a feeling of relief that the chase was over. Relief turned to dismay as he found the giggling was actually coming from the mouth of a four armed creature lying on the floor and getting tickled. A team of about eight small monsters had become restless during the feeding off Patricia's emotions and had decided to find entertainment through other means.

The rat child had found a group of seven spinefants that needed cheering up after most of their pack had been slaughtered; their leader was still missing and injured quite badly. They didn't see any of this but they felt it. They had searched for the leader but couldn't find him and with his presence being so weak he could be either near death, in a distant place or both. It was not good for the pack as there were so little of them left that a fight for leadership was pointless as it could threaten to wipe them all out. The rat child listened with a keen ear and came up with a plan to cheer them up. After telling them about it they laughed like babies. The four armed monster had had his eyes closed while feeding and so literally didn't see what was coming the pack of a small hunters picked and wove their way through the guests. Suddenly the four armed monster found himself on the ground being gagged and dragged away to a less crowded part of the room. One there the tickling began.

Matt shook his head and continued to scan the room for the child. The rat child scrambled off the laughing monster and made his way over to Matt.

"Hi there. I'm Miles. What's your name?"

"Matt."

"You wanna tickle him? It's really fun." Matt waved a tentacle.

"Thank you Miles but I will have to pass this time. I'm afraid I have a small job to do first."

"That's a pity mister. Here you can have my party hat." Matt tentatively took the shiny gold hat from the small, outstretched hand before him. He put the hat on and smiled.

"Thanks. Hey you might be able to help me get finished quicker so I can play."

"Sure. How?"

"Did you see a small child come in here? He would be about this high, wispy dark hair and more then likely running on tentacles." The rat child used his one arm to scratch the side of his nose. After a few moments of deep thought the child's face brightened.

"Ohh the fast kid? I thought he was one of Joe's cousins. He looks like he's from that family anyway. I think he went over to the gallows after feeding himself fat off the woman's pain." Matt bowed in gratitude before tussling the rat child's hair gently with a tentacle.

"Thank you Miles. I promise I will come back to play later."

"Look forward to it. Good luck Mister Matt."

Matt gave a wave as he headed off through the crowd. He had a small sample of Patricia's fear and pain on the way past and had to force himself forward. The taste was exquisite. He would definitely have to return later. At the end of the office he saw his goal watching a game of hangman. It was not anything like the game he played as a human child but a rather more literal version. A gallows was erected from floor to ceiling. Inside the noose there was a man who looked scared out of his wits. The platform he stood on was like a lift, which lowered slowly whenever a wrong letter was guessed until eventually it would fully lower itself and he would be left to die slowly. There was a large blackboard to the left of the gallows and a tall, skeletal demon with empty eye sockets and shredded fingertips held a long piece of chalk.

"Any takers for guessing yet or do you want to shout out another letter? Remember he has only three more lives remaining before he croaks and I want to get more than one game out of this one. It's no fun if they die quickly so try and actually guess properly this time. No more made up words or stupid guesses." The small audience moaned a bit but complied nonetheless.

"H"

"Yes that's there." The chalk squealed as the monster dragged it down the blackboard. The intensity of the sound was amplified, making the man in the noose squirm. Matt snuck in and grabbed the child.

"Gotcha." He kept a firm hold on the child, this time making sure to bind his tentacles. The child squirmed for a while before realizing it was futile and simply resorting to crying.

A scaly woman with a bird's head walked over to him.

"Stop it. You're hurting the poor dear."

"Cynthia stay out of this. He's not one of us and I'm under orders to collect him."

"Collect him, not choke the life out of him and what do you mean he's not one of us?"

"Cynth I really have to go…

"Don't you Cynth me. Fine go but don't think this is over. We are going to have a long talk about this when you get back." Matt sighed and made his way across the room.

'Great. There go any chances of getting laid tonight'.

A loud cheer rose up, overpowering any other noise in the room when the doors opened and Nathaniel walked in.

"Happy Rebirthday" the crowd called in unison. Suddenly Matt couldn't move for being surrounded by monsters carrying cards and presents. Most of the presents were soft, squishy and in shiny wrappers. Nathaniel smiled with glee.

"Thank you my friends." He spent the next five minutes glad handing entities before giving them permission to go back to their party games before giving them permission to go back to their party games before Matt got a chance to pull him aside. Nathaniel saw the child.

"Ahh you finally retrieved him. I'm surprised."

"The new appendages worked wonders my lord."

"Glad to hear it. You should put him back in the bottle quickly before he escapes again. I built him to evade things when he needed to."

"I realize that. I was lead on quite the merry dance. By the by I wasn't aware you had created an army."

"You've seen the forest?"

"Yes, but only a brief look, the child was using the pods there for cover before dashing off to the party."

"Speaking of which have you read some of these cards? _'Have a Happy Rebirthday, Hope you're feeling fine, You should be over 1000 today, But the kid you possessed looks nine.'_ How much of this trash is flooding the market these days? I tell you." Nate shook his head and chuckled.

Matt looked a bit awkward. "I'm sorry I haven't got you anything. I've just been so busy lately."

Nate held his hands up. "It's ok. Believe me. You took care of that Lurker earlier and besides Cynthia gave me something. It's signed for the both of you."

"Yeah. She's a real gem isn't she?"

"Oh God don't you go to mush on me as well."

"Ha ha. Sorry sir. Won't happen again."

"I knew I shouldn't have kept you so human." He gave a small grin. It quickly disappeared. "Matt. Do you feel that?"

"My bones are tingling a bit, other than that? No."

"We have to get out of here now."

"What's the matter?" Matt said as he held the door open.

"Damn it! He's taking the stairs. Time to get the lift." They bundled themselves in and Nathaniel hit the top floor button. "Uncle Robbie should be able to help out."

"What is it?"

"A mistake that I aim to permanently correct. Hello Sharon." Nate casually said to the reflection in the lift, panic only just beginning to edge out of his voice. She curtseyed back, her green eyes shining unnaturally in the dim light. Nate sighed, needing to get something off his chest.

"He was a friend."

"The mistake?"

Nate nodded. "A very long time ago. We had a falling out over a difference of opinion. As things turned out we became mortal enemies. I trapped him and a group of his wretched friends in a sacred place. He escaped and almost destroyed me. I managed to trap him again and now, against all the odds, he's escaped again and wants to finish me off."

"Oh crap."

"Indeed."

The lift doors opened into the hallway of a luxury apartment. A few minutes later and Matt was still trying to understand how a place like this could exist in Nowhere. Black marble walls with veins of sapphire were set off against a plushy red carpet. Golden framed paintings were splattered here and there. Most of them depicted different acts of lust and seduction. Nate whistled. Matt tried to whistle but only managed a hollow whooshing sound. Nate looked at him strangely. Matt shrugged.

"I haven't seen Uncle Robert's pad like this before." Nate said, still awestruck.

Giggling was heard from behind the white and gold doors. Matt held Nate back.

"Umm hold back a minute. I think I should go in first here."

"This coming from a monster wearing a party hat."

"What?"

"I'm older then most of the cities on this planet. There is nothing going on in there that could shock me."

"Sorry that body you are using still throws me."

"Noted. Do it again and you will regret it. Clear?"

"As ocular fluid sir."

Nate opened the doors a peak and quickly shut them, his face a little pale after the viewing. Matt looked at him.

"Sir?"

"That… was new."

"Lets give them a few minutes and then knock."

Nate nodded. "Really loudly. I'm not sure he'll be able to hear you if his ears stay in that position."

"What?"

"Flesh manipulation. Right now not many parts are where they are supposed to be."

"Oh."

"Indeed." The two sat down and prepared for the short wait.

"So umm nice paintings."

"Matt."

"Yes?"

"Where's the baby?" Matt looked down at his empty tentacle "Son of a …"

* * *

The monsters continued in their reveling. Miles the rat child was part annoyed that the four-armed monster had stopped playing with them and part bored. He was thinking about playing a new game. The spinefants had gone back to Patricia for seconds. The human was a lot more durable than any of them had anticipated. An idea came to him and a smile crossed his face. He walked over to the spinefants and whispered in one of their ears. They giggled maliciously which even disturbed some of those gathered. Immediately two of the spinefants went into a trance while huddled and rocking on the floor.

The first creature projected itself into the mind of the envelope monster and found itself in the hospital.

The girl Daphne looked at the spinefant in surprise. "How did you get in here? What do you want?"

The spinefant actually found it able to speak in this place with a cold, crisp voice. "I am here to tell you that at this very moment there is a game being arranged. It's a tug of war between you and Lenny."

"The lightbox demon?"

"The very one. The winner gets to consume the girl. Simple as that."

"What about Nathaniel?"

"He showed absolutely no interest in the girl. I believe she is worthless to him."

The small girl smiled. "Bring it on."

She walked over to Patricia.

"Mommy"

"I'm so sorry."

"It's ok Mommy. I forgive you. Come on you need some rest. Just relax."

"So so sorry." The girl sat behind her and cradled Patricia's head in her lap.

"There there mommy its ok. Sleep. Shhh. There, there. It's all right now." The child cooed softly. The spinefant giggled and left to see how things were coming along back in the office. What it found did not disappoint it. The envelope monster seemed to be slowly but surely winning the battle as Patricia sank lower and lower inside its mouth. They were slightly disrupted by a loud banging noise coming from somewhere below them before returning to watch the game.

* * *

Robert Corn opened the large white and gold doors of his apartment dressed in a white, fluffy bathrobe. He looked slightly disheveled. His expression was one of surprise when he did answer the door.

"Nate. Umm what can I do for you? How's the party?"

"Oh the party is good." His face froze for a moment as if someone had just whispered in his ear unexpectedly.

"Oh no. Those idiots. Actually Uncle Robert the party has taken a turn for the worse. They are starting to play tug of war with one of the gate keepers."

Robert's eyes widened. "Tess hun? Would you mind popping down and breaking up that little rabble?"

"Sure babe," a delightfully chirpy Tess answered as she glided through the room. "Hi Nate. Hi umm monster guy."

Nate chuckled. "Hello Tess. Thank you for doing that."

"No problem. Back in a flash." Tess left the room, running down the stairs rapidly. Nate nodded over to Robert.

"I like her. She is a woman of very little questions." Robert smiled.

"Yeah. She's a peach. There's something else isn't there?"

"You can read me like a book."

"I can at that. Sit here and tell me what my favorite nephew has on his mind."

* * *

Tess flew down the stairs, her mind buzzing after a fantastic session of lovemaking. The flesh melding was insane but at the same time so pleasurable. For a few brief moments she knew what it felt like to be inside Robert and even a part of him. When the two of them joined as one creation the feeling was indescribable but her senses had definitely heightened after it. She could feel something. A sort of spiritual pull towards an unknown place. Whether it was fate or place or person she didn't know as this was something completely new to her. The noise of the party was getting louder the further she descended. There was something coming up the stairs as well but it was too far away to see as the staircase had apparently revolted against the creature and had not only tried to increase it's distance but had burrowed a good few floors underground. The creature was in for quite an uphill struggle. As she reached the floor that party was on she heard the thing shout.

"WOLLOF EM YM REHTORB…"

She didn't catch the rest of it as she entered the corridor before the game room. She stilled herself for a moment before casting a glamour spell. "MONARTEM, SAHPILAC, RHARGYZ, TEL EHT SLIEV EB TSAC, EHT RUOMALG DNECSED." What stood in that corridor now looked like a demon with sealed lips, a mouth of sharp teeth in her throat and a pair of legs protruding from her shoulders, making it seem as if she could walk lying down or upside down if she chose.

She took a breath before entering. She saw Patricia's body was almost swallowed by the envelope monster. The light box had a tight hold on her legs and wasn't letting go. Blood was starting to trickle from where the rough tongue was holding her.

"Stop this now."

The tug of war went on but the other monsters in the room turned to face her.

"Who are you?" a four-armed demon asked.

"My name is Sandra and I am a messenger for Nathaniel. He says to leave the woman be as she is important to him."

"I doubt it." Cynthia stepped out from the crowd.

"I don't know how you know Nate but you have no place here."

"What do you mean?"

"I can see through glamours. I can also dispel them." She whistled a short tune. The sound was distorted and the air around Tess distorted itself then reformed to show her true appearance.

"Crap."

The monsters looked at her with a ravenous hunger.

"I think this meal should be hung before we dine."

BANG. Suddenly the doors flew open, blown apart by a large pillar of flames. A few of the party guests were instantly incinerated by the blast. Footsteps were heard walking slowly down the corridor. Then like an unstoppable force Jack walked through the doorway. His grim face saying all that needed to be said. He was here, he was pissed and they were all going to die.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the birthday party. I really enjoyed writing the whole scene. More to come soon. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	10. Chapter 10

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 10: Of Blood and Fire

Creatures ran screaming from the living inferno before them. It was not Montrellan's anger that was unleashed upon the room. He gave no mercy. There was no gate this time. The flames were an extension of his will. He saw the monster with four arms. It ceased cowering under the table and began to attack him in the last bid to do something. It truly was his last bid as a smattering of ash was all that touched Jack. The others, seeing what had happened to their friend, were filled with rage and followed in the attack.

Jack said nothing. He had not been taken over by Montrellan, but by a much darker and violent part of himself that had not seen the light of day for a very long time. It craved destruction and blood. The fire in his hands disappeared as he took to bludgeoning the oncoming demons with his fists. Each blow carried an unnatural strength found only with pure rage. His countenance had changed to that of a madman as he hit and broke bones left, right and center. His intent was clear. He was there to lay waste to every demonic presence in that room. Tess saw this and decided that her retrieval job was one that was best achieved with the maximum amount of speed available.

She grabbed the hair of the little girl swallowing Patricia and pulled its jaws further apart. That split second of give was all the light box creature needed. It pulled as hard as it could on Patricia, dragging her body towards its casing and the skeleton already trapped inside. Tess grabbed as hard as she could but it was obvious that she had underestimated it's strength. The light box monster flicked its tongue and pulled Tess off her feet with the force of the tug. The envelope monster bit down hard on Tess, feeling more than a little put out that it had lost the tug of war due to this impertinent human. Tess shrieked in pain as she released Patricia to deal with the envelope monster. It didn't want to take any chances that she would do something to harm it so it cleanly bit her in half and opened its maw to swallow the top half that was currently falling towards the monster in a delightfully gory shower of blood and unidentifiable organs.

Jack was still satisfying his bloodlust and was laughing as he snapped the neck of a spinefant. Montrellan spoke quickly to bring Jack back to reality when he saw a bloodied Patricia getting dragged into the light box by a long, purple tongue.

'If you are finished killing children perhaps you could tend to the girl?' Jack stopped dead, coming to his senses. Cynthia was hitting him hard although he couldn't feel it right then. He absent-mindedly swept her aside like a child's doll. She cracked her head off the wall and hit the ground hard.

Jack knew what he was becoming and knew that he had to stop it now before it became too late. He raced over to the bloodied and unconscious girl hanging from the ceiling. He thanked God for small mercies that the light box took a long time to digest its meals. Jack clenched his fist and simply willed a jet of fire to flow into the light box. The tentacles inside snapped and released the girl, as the monster silently burned in agony. Pain was nothing new to the creature but this was deeper. This was pain that brought the fear of being completely seared from existence.

Jack walked quickly to her making footprints in the ashes. He knelt down and wiped the blood from her face. A look of shock passed across his own.

"Patricia?" She was still unconscious.

Montrellan broke the relative silence. 'You know her?'

"No. I just met her today. Frankly I'm surprised that she is still alive in a place like this."

'Fate is a strange thing is it not?'

Jack nodded. "I suppose it is at that." He cast a cold glance at the gallows.

'Familiar?' Montrellan asked, a certain masked laughter barely disguised behind his voice. Jack didn't like the way his new ally was picking up on his thoughts.

"Too familiar. It's a place in time that I don't intend to revisit any time soon."

'Then don't.' Montrellan sounded detached again. 'Its as simple as that. There is always an answer to the problem and I'm afraid I will not allow you to take the easy path out.'

"I don't intend to." Jack said through gritted teeth.

'Good. Wake the girl. Gently though, she has been through a lot.'

"Familiar?" Jack chided back.

Montrellan said nothing. Jack turned his attention back to Patricia. He brushed the hair from her face.

"Come on kid. Time to go." Her eyes opened slowly as if it were taking a great effort to do so.

"Daddy?"

Jack flinched. "No. I'm sorry. You might not remember me. It's Jack…from this morning. Come on. We really have to go."

The shock of awareness hit her like a bucket of cold water. "Aaaagh."

Jack jumped, taken unawares by her scream.

"Where am I? Am I safe? I was having the worst nightmare."

"I would love to tell you different but you are still in it. The good news is that it isn't far to go before we can leave this place."

"Oh no. oh no."

"Listen its ok Patricia. I'll help you out of this but I need you to come with me now."

"Who are you?"

Realizing she mustn't have been fully aware when he introduced himself. He repeated himself.

"Jack? Oh my God. Your eyes, what happened to you?"

"Cobb."

"Who?"

"Owner of this building. His picture is up in the front hall."

"That nice old guy?"

"Yeah. That's what I thought too until recent events changed my mind somewhat."

"How is your head on fire? Why are you not screaming?"

"The fire doesn't hurt. Its not the same as the type we are used to. Listen, I will tell you on the way down."

"Where are we going?"

"We are headed for the front hall. I just hope the stairs have learned their lesson."

"What?"

"Just come on."

"Uuugh." Patricia stumbled.

"Torture will do that to you. Here." He picked her up and let her lean on him. The two shambled towards the stairwell. They exchanged brief versions of each others stories as they walked.

* * *

Nate felt extremely confused when the bad feeling in his bones grew weaker.

"He's leaving? Matt I have a sneaking suspicion that the party is most definitely over. We should go check on the party guests."

Corn sat on his bed in a moment of deep thought. "Tess is probably dead then if what you told me about this Montrellan fellow is accurate." He said in a matter of fact tone.

"We have bigger things to worry about. The gatekeepers are together again. This should not be until the appointed time when the city is bathed in flames. I will go and talk to Cornelius while you tend to the remains of your party guests."

"Cynthia." Matt sighed with a heavy heart.

"Fine. Matt and I will check on the party. I trust you have a plan to separate the two."

"I have and with your Mother in her delicate condition I am sure Cornelius will be more than eager to separate them and have this be done with. As for myself I am anxious to meet this Samael of yours."

Nate's face was unreadable as they watched Corn draw up one of his magic doorways and leave.

Nate and Matt made for the elevator with Matt leading the way, anxious to see what had become of Cynthia. He knew it wasn't going to be good when he saw Sharon in the lift. The reflected girl was weeping silently. When the two got out they could hear the heads on the staircase howling. Nate frowned in deep concentration.

"Damn it. What is he up to?" Nate cursed himself for not knowing. Matt wasn't really paying attention to his master's mutterings. He saw the gaping hole that the fire had made in the entrance and rushed even faster. He saw Cynthia limp and still on the floor. A small trickle of blood was running from the back of her head.

Matt cried out in anger. Nate hurried over to him.

"Wait Matt let me look at her." He put a small hand over her neck, now slick with blood.

"She will be fine. I can fix her up later. For now this will have to do." He licked the wound and stopped the bleeding. He was cautious not to show just how much he enjoyed the taste.

"Thank you sire. Can you still feel Montrellan?"

"Yes. He is headed downstairs." With that Matt rushed out of the room in a fury.

"You're dead when I find you. You hear? I'LL CUT YOU TO PIECES YOU SON OF A BITCH."

Nate started to regret leaving Matt with a high percentage of humanity more than ever. He resigned himself to looking about the room. The walls were blackened an broken bodies lay on an ash covered carpet. The hangman was still swinging from his gallows, his face black and blue. Nate shook his head.

"Matt was right. You are a dead man." He saw the body of a spinefant strewn on the floor at an awkward angle, then another and another. None of them had been burned. A look of realization passed over Nate's face.

"Oh my Jack but you have been naughty haven't you." A plan started to form in Nate's head followed by an evil grin.

* * *

The stairs were exactly as Jack had expected. They kept contracting and expanding themselves to make the journey more difficult. The heads screamed loudly.

"God. Why won't they stop?" Patricia shouted.

"I don't know. Maybe they sense what is inside of me. Whatever it is there is a high possibility that they are showing us the right way."

"How?"

"They don't want us to reach our destination so the louder they get, the closer we are."

"We must be pretty damn close then." Jack nodded.

"Better than that. We're here." Silence. Jack opened the door to the front hall.

"We're on the home stretch now."

"Thank God. Oh no. What's that?"

Before them stood a large doorway covered with a silver web. Hiding but just about visible was a large purple mass with teeth. It was slightly reminiscent of a Venus flytrap except it had long, spindly legs. The web vibrated with each step they took.

"Montrellan we may need your help here." There was no answer. Jack suddenly became afraid.

"Montrellan?" Patricia watched as Jack attempted to have a conversation with the demon inside him. Had she not experienced the last couple of hours she would have just written Jack off as a crazy person.

Suddenly a shimmering drew her attention away from the web. She looked behind to see a door appear out of nowhere. Two men stepped through. One she recognized as Mr. Cobb the buildings owner. The other man she couldn't place until he spoke.

"Hello Jack. Hello Patricia." It was Robert Corn. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

Cornelius spoke. "You have one destiny to fulfill. One. How hard can it be to follow such a simple path? If the prophecy was more detailed this could have been a lot easier on both of you."

Robert interrupted. "What my friend here is trying to say is that you shouldn't be here and by coming here you have forced our hands to chastise you yet again."

Patricia backed away from the advancing Corn.

"Jack? What are you doing?" Jack stood motionless, listening for the footsteps.

"He isn't answering. I'm blind for the moment."

"Oh great." Patricia quickly ran forward, grabbed Jacks arm and dragged him towards the staircase. Robert raised a knife, showing it to be dipped in a black substance. He moved like a cobra striking its prey, making a light and precise cut in the back of both the gatekeepers legs.

"Damn it." Jack cursed. "Montrellan. Where are you?"

Corn's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

Before he could utter another word Jack passed out, dragging Patricia down with him.

"Oh no. Don't do this please. Ahh." Her scream died on her lips as she fell crashing into the darkness of unconsciousness.

The reason for her scream had just burst through the entrance to the stairs. It was Matt and he was ready to tear the two gatekeepers to shreds.

"Stop. What is the meaning of this madness?" Matt saw that it was Cornelius talking and immediately stood to attention.

"The Allfather. My apologies. This man owes me a blood debt."

Corn interrupted "Actually it is the beast within the man. This gatekeeper has a guardian inside him."

"How can that be? I know destruction of the guardians is not an option but were they not bound?"

Corn nodded. "They were but it seems that this particular one is good at finding his way out. I have no idea how many are possibly out there but this one was freed and someone," he looked at Cobb, "didn't notice."

Cobb held his hands up in defense. "I had the room filled with fog and Josephine needed the eye. I didn't exactly stop to take in the scenery."

Matt tried to stop the argument before it escalated. "I think you are missing the heart of the matter…"

"Well?"

"I was pausing for effect. The real question is what are you going to do with them? Not who is to blame."

Cobb turned to his associate. "He has a point."

"You would say that. Fine. We are splitting them up yes?"

"Agreed. I suggest you take Jack as he knows what I can do."

"Fine. You take the girl and I will handle hotshot here."

"Excellent. Matt give me a hand will you?"

"Certainly Allfather." Matt scooped up Patricia's fragile frame in his tentacles before following Cornelius into the lift.

Robert Corn looked down at the limp body before him and smirked.

"Oh Jack I do apologize. This occasion was meant to be so much more." There was not a little disappointment in his voice.

"It seems that some things just don't turn out as you expect. Nevertheless what must be done must be done. I'm sure you will afford me some small measure of forgiveness for this. After all this is ultimately your sin as well. You need to address your inner demons and I'm not talking about that sniveling coward either." Corn started dragging the unconscious Jack towards the spider's web.

"That's right. I know you are listening and I know you will more then likely report back to the mortal whenever I am done with him. He's not pure. You know that don't you. He can never serve as the host you so desperately seek. In fact you'll be lucky if you survive in there with him and his darkness. No matter how bright the flame. One candle cannot hope to destroy the night. Hup."

He hefted Jack onto his shoulder before bringing him down on the web. Thin, purple tendrils snaked along the fine silver lines holding the web together. Robert stood there watching intently. A voice drifted down to him.

"Uncle Robbie. I need you in the party room now." A brief frown drifted across Robert's face.

"Be right there. Au revoir for now Jack. I do hope that you have awakened when next we meet." Corn drew a door in the air. It promptly materialized. He left the room. The door disappeared as soon as it clicked on closing.

Light flickered in Jack's dead eyes.

"Well this isn't quite the escape I had envisioned. All he had to do was get past this challenge. It's not like those two are invincible like proper wizards. More like children who think they know everything once they taste a drop of magic." A faint vibration started to make the strands of web beside Jack quiver.

"Hmm that can't be good. Better call in the reinforcements. Mmmph." A dark tentacle covered his face before he could say another word.

"I would advise you not to resist." The voice came from a slender woman in white.

"He has to do this before Samael can get a better grip on him. Right now he's closer to the edge then you think." Montrellan relented and let the darkness take both of them. The woman in white sat in the security guard's chair and sat back to wait the revelations out.

* * *

End of Chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I am pushing to finish putting this story up soon so please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	11. Chapter 11

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 11: A Hot Time in the Old Town

Nate surveyed the destruction of the party with a wave of remorse. The bodies lay strewn, each with their own agonising expression. Their passing had not been peaceful, that much was plain. The only sound to be heard in the massacre was the odd drip of blood that continued to escape from the numerous gaping wounds. The door opened breaking the semi silence.

"Such devastation." Robert Corn said, his jaw agape as he surveyed the room.

"Now do you comprehend what we are up against? What did you do with him?"

"The doorman has him."

"Good. That will give us time to salvage some of this mess. Pass me that spine will you?"

"Why? One of your more important creations?" Nate took the bone column from Robert.

"Nope. Just thirsty is all." He smiled before he broke it in half and drained the fluid, his little tongue licking the insides to get every last drop. He looked up to see Corn smirking.

"What?"

"You have a little moustache."

"Oh." Nate said before wiping the fluid on his sleeve. "Thanks."

Nate closely examined a steaming pile of organs wandering for a fleeting moment who or what they belonged to before turning his attention back to Corn.

"Well don't just stand there. Help me."

Corn sighed and began to help Nate gather what he needed.

* * *

Jack woke up in a room that he knew couldn't exist. Pale blue paint reflected a bleak form of daylight. The blinds made it shine in slats giving the place an almost prison like atmosphere. The bed felt as uncomfortable as it always did. Even more so now as dark, forbidden memories started to seep into his consciousness. He looked left to see his partner in crime a bottle of Jack Daniels stood in silent accusation. Where had he been? Why did he leave for so long? Did he think he could hide forever? Questions screamed like white fire in his mind.

He couldn't remember what had happened but he knew that he would soon. A light melodic chiming started to play in a room not far from this one.

"How?" The question remained unanswered. It was just a way to interrupt the melody really. Jack didn't actually expect anyone to answer.

"Montrellan? Are you there? Is that you poking around in my head?" No answer. Unsure of what he might find Jack picked himself up off the bed and staggered through the doorway. Shadows danced in the strange twilight filling the hall. In that moment he knew that if he followed the sounds he would be scarred for life and that there would be no going back. The melody was "Frere Jacque". He began to sing it softly as he had done so many times in an age long past. The whiskey on the bedside table still seemed to glare at him from its usual resting spot. His voice became more broken as he got closer. Soft breathing noises came from the room. Noises that could only be those of a sleeping child.

Sure enough when Jack fully opened the door he found himself at the entrance of a nursery. A mobile span round with clouds and moons and stars. The "Frere Jacque" melody played loudly with high-pitched chimes. Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. A large shadow kept watch over the child. He knew it was her, only from another time. A time he had tried so desperately to forget.

The shadow started to sing softly along with the mobile. The child began joining in except it couldn't get the words properly right and just kept saying.

"Fairer Jacka." The room began to spin as panic took hold.

"Impossible. This cannot be."

A dark voice within him chided. "Drink up boy. It'll ease the pain." It wasn't Montrellan, he knew who spoke in that horrid tone. Another shadow filled the doorway, bottle in hand and foulness on its breath.

"I got rid of you. I put you away."

"Not for good Jacky boy. You can't keep a good man down. Besides you need me. You need to blame someone for what's coming; and you know what's coming." The figure took another swig. Jack positioned himself in front of the cot.

"You can't have her this time. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know. You should have put down the bottle and taken care of her. That thing in your hand isn't your child, its poison. You knew and you still put it first."

The figure seemed not to hear him or simply ignored him. "She should have stayed quiet. She should have shut her goddamn mouth but no. The little whelp had to keep on with that incessant whining."

"Don't do it man."

"Of course I'm going to do it. I'll do what I've already done a hundred times in your mind. You can't stop what's already happened murderer."

"No."

"Yes. Demon Father. Failed guardian. The only thing you managed to protect was that goddamn bottle." Jack clenched his fist.

"All right hotshot. Lets go."

"Go where? I'm a shadow you idiot. I'm you." The scenery changed. He was now in the kitchen with a bottle in his hand, a five o'clock shadow and that rancid taste in his mouth. A small girl in a flowery dress sat on the edge of the kitchen table swinging her legs.

"Hello Daddy." She started chuckling darkly. Jack became furious.

"Bastard."

* * *

Patricia woke to the sound of wood tapping on metal. Whatever had her in its grasp seemed to be gliding rather then walking. She opened her eyes to see a rusty metal floor. Turning her head she came across two large red eyes and saw a lot of bony spikes.

"Don't move too much. Your kind seems to puncture easily. Allfather. Our guest is awake." The tapping stopped.

"Excellent. Set her down Matt."

The lumbering creature did so with surprising grace. "Love these tentacles." He remarked. Patricia shuddered a little at that.

"Now, now Miss. I do believe you should have a stronger constitution then that."

"What?"

"Let's drop the pretence shall we? I know you're a cold bitch under that shell. You only wear that front to try and prove you're not dead inside but I know different. Come. I want you to walk the factory floor with me."

Patricia was slightly stunned by Cobb's speech but kept pace with the old man as Matt fell in behind her.

"I brought you here because I think its time you learned your purpose. Tell me where do you come from?"

"I'm not local if that's what you mean."

"Be serious."

"I come from Tenson in New Downshire. It's a three hour drive from here." Cornelius made a soft tsk sound.

"My my no wonder your progress is so slow. You really don't know anything. Orphan I presume?"

"How did you know?"

"I know because I know you. You were made here. You are the result of years of planning and preparation."

"What?"

"It's true," Matt spoke up, "We were part of the same batch of creations."

Cornelius nodded. "This has been going on for a long time. Longer since before this building was constructed."

"Where are we?" Patricia asked, unsure if she really wanted to know as her world had already been shaken more than enough by coming to this tower.

"The inhabitants call it Nowhere. It has other names but that all relies on your belief system. This part is the factory in which you were made. You are one of a batch of adaptable flesh puppets. Matt for example used to resemble a human, yet as he lived mostly in this realm he has adapted and changed accordingly to make survival less of a fight. He is now suited for his purpose. As you shall be soon enough."

"What is it you have in store for me? Apart from traumatising me on several levels."

"You my dear are a gate keeper." Before he could explain much more a shriek of excruciating pain tore through the corridors.

"I take it that scream is where we are headed?"

"Very perceptive. Yes. As I was saying you are a gatekeeper. We needed a link between nowhere and the mundane plane of existence you have come to call home these days. You have met the other keeper already."

A look of revelation passed behind Patricia's eyes. "Jack."

"Precisely. You may not realise it but when you abandoned your daughter at his doorstep you sealed both your fates and gave us the connection we needed."

"Is he from here too?"

"No. He is from the world where the sun shines on the pathetic inhabitants below."

"Why the need for all this?"

"My wife. Josephine. She's dying and my methods will only keep her alive for so long. She needs the power that lies in Silent Hill to truly give her life. Nathaniel has helped so much with that. He's the son I could only have dreamed of."

They stopped outside a pair of swing doors with "Maternity" written on them.

"There is one other reason. We are in the middle of a war my dear. Now you have finally come back to us perhaps we have a chance of winning it with one effort instead of gaining one lost soul at a time."

"How?"

"With an army of course. Matt would you do the honours?" The old man stepped aside while Matt used his tentacles to open the doors to give both Patricia and Cornelius a good view of the room. The grinding noises of metal on flesh and the clanking of machinery made it almost impossible to hear themselves think. Patricia began to realise just how unexpected this place could be.

They had just moved from a narrow corridor to a huge factory floor that could easily have housed a block of flats. Conveyor belts ran in many directions and carried various things to their destinations. The ceiling was littered with umbilical cords and muscles as so much fleshy ivy. Along the walls with a good space between each one lay a marvel in its own right. Cornelius made a flourishing gesture.

"Let me introduce you. Patricia, meet the Mothers." Patricia gazed in fascination at the scene.

They were not so much women as large machines with the fleshy shells of women on beds. Conveyor belts ran beneath the bed and through the women. The women screamed every now and again as grinding cogs and wheels occasionally caught on their flesh. Nurses below worked hard to untangle flesh from machine making sure the Mothers ran smoothly. Small rat-faced creatures swung from ceiling cords and ran around the huge women to attend to their needs. They fed the woman lumps of meat, which they gobbled up greedily, licking hot fat and blood off their shrivelled lips. Cogs turned, making strange shapes in their throat and chest areas. The nurses set about working with mops and wrenches. Steam came out of the Mother's mouth as she threw back her head to scream.

More attendants swung from the ceiling with meat hooks, like nightmarish cherubs. They plunged their implements into the huge woman's belly and proceeded to peel her open. They dropped to the ground in a shower of gore before proceeding to work their way back up to the conveyor belt. A large steaming pot was manoeuvred into position above the cavity with the new child inside. The cherubs now entered a critical phase where they balanced the pot over the struggling machine woman and began carefully pouring a blue liquid over the child. Finally the lead cherub instructed the team and the nurses to close her back up again. Once happy with the task at hand the leader pulled a lever in the Mother's arm, making the conveyor move. A water bottle with a small child inside soon emerged from the womb and went into the ceiling via the conveyor belt.

Patricia saw this was the tip of the iceberg and became quite worried when she saw there were larger monsters being developed. Each Mother was different to deal with the different processes involved including steel plates with names and barcodes being embedded into the back of the heads of some of them. Complete with a team of cherubs acting like formula one mechanics with their screwdrivers. They were architectural marvels of the flesh. Cornelius brought them to a stop beside one of the larger, more grotesque examples of the patchwork women.

"Patricia. I would like you to meet your Mother." Patricia's mind went blank when she tried to process the information.

Before her lay a large Mother. Her mouth was sewn on and the eyes looked like they were newly placed into her face as blood seeped out of the edges. She stroked Cornelius' face when she saw him. She had a few conveyor belts running in and out of her. Some carried demons while others carried struggling figures in sackcloth that were strapped up and restrained by leather belts. Blood had dried through, leaving brown stains on the dirty cloth. A wall of flesh surrounded a large smelter with a fierce orange glow with the forge spilling out of the womb. The pieces of demon and human fell into the forge. After machinery moving and screaming a new creature fell out of the womb, one born of fire and pain. A look of fear and realisation crossed Patricia's face.

Matt saw this. "Now you see what you truly are. We are brother and sister born from the same flames. Your demons just haven't manifested yet."

"Why?"

Cornelius answered this time. "We need a link between both worlds to open the gate and being the creature you are provides us with. Your counterpart is much the same only he has fused a different way and with something far beyond his control."

"What is the significance of this link? I abandoned my child I admit but it was the hardest thing I ever did. I can't accept it was my demon side that did that."

"You're right. It wasn't. That was all you, however you had to nonetheless."

"What?"

"We don't play pointless games here Miss Heartwing. We follow prophecies. There is a destiny for everyone and yours intertwines with all of ours. You my dear can not only possess demons but you can control them as well. All you have to do is open yourself up to the demon inside." Patricia thought about this point for a little while before smiling.

"I can hear it."

"What is it telling you?"

"It is telling me to say hello to you both and that it's name is Sharon." Cobb went a bit wide-eyed at that. Not before one of Matt's tentacles plunged through Cornelius' skull.

"That was easier then I thought." Patricia said.

"Now to get out of here." She walked off towards the exit leaving Matt paralysed holding Cornelius like a lifeless meat puppet.

* * *

Nate and Robert hurried back down the stairs, each carrying an armful of demonic organs. Nate was particularly protective over one of the brains. The metal plate had somehow still stayed intact although the Spinefant serial number had been slightly marred.

"Uncle I need you to leave the organs at the reception desk in front of the blind one then go and call a lift. From the shouts I suspect we will need to be quick about this." Hearing voices, the woman in white hid under the desk. Robert set about his business while Nate began to carefully place the organs in the shape of a hexagon. At the top of which he stood in the gore holding the brain. He pictured the seventh floor and an almost sleeping receptionist jumped to life.

"Uhh yes sir?"

"Start the process."

"Small, regular or large?"

"Small."

"Right away Sir."

The receptionist swivelled round without moving her legs and pulled on a giant lever behind her. A huge steam whistle blew a deafening call. Gears and conveyor belts kicked into action above her. The receptionist jerked again before hearing Nate's voice.

"Oh and Mavis."

"Yes sir?"

"No bottles."

"Are…are you sure Sir?"

"Do it." The receptionist grabbed the same lever and flipped the top of it to reveal a red button. She pressed it. Doing so activated a rusted metal barrier, slamming it down all around the desk and video screens flipped up in front of her. She shook her head hardly believing what was about to happen.

"This is crazy. Even for this place." She did not have long to wait before the screams came. There were delivery tubes in the room and from one in particular she could hear a very prominent scuttling.

"Oh Crap."

Nate finished his incantation in the organ pile and a portal opened up linking the reception hall to the floor of the delivery room.

"Uncle Robert. Ready with the lift?"

"Yes Nate."

"Time to go I think." Mavis watched as a number of baby Nates poured through the chute and into the hole in the floor laughing wildly. Nate ran for the lift an bundled himself in. He hit the tenth floor button repeatedly. All the while babies flooded the small room. Robert made a gesture and the lift doors closed quickly.

"Funny."

"What?"

"Sharon is missing."

"Who cares she's only a …wait. Change the floor. We need to head to eighth."

Robert made another gesture and soon the lift sped towards their destination almost pinning them to the floor. Nate looked over at him.

"Overdo things much?"

"Give it a rest. It worked didn't it?"

* * *

Jack was having a hard time containing his rage. He knew the girl in front of him was just an apparition and he finally knew that he was in this hell because of what he did. Or rather didn't do. He was a failure.

"That's right daddy. A big fat failure. Couldn't even cook a meal properly without burning the house down. This is what I would have looked like you know if I'd have lived."

Jack gritted his teeth. "Why wait so long? I've had this job ever since. Why did you wait until now to haunt me?"

"You're not the only damned soul on the planet Daddy. Everything had to be in place and things like that take time."

"You're not talking sense. Hell, I know you're not even real."

"That may be Daddy but what you did and the danger you're now in most definitely is."

"Yes I should have turned off the oven before I left the place. It was the crying. I had to get out of the house. Get my head together."

"That's it? No I love you? No I'm sorry?"

"If you were real you would know I have already paid my penance for that. The guilt tortured me to breaking point. I was in an asylum with partial amnesia because of it."

The girl chuckled. "I am real. Just not in the way you think. You've been a very bad Daddy and it's time for you to pay."

The scene rippled to reveal what was really going on. His head was about to be devoured by a large spider creature on a silver web. Before it could take a bite it held back as if awaiting approval from something or someone. That's when Jack looked down and saw it. The reception hall was full of baby Nates.

"You?"

The small army laughed simultaneously sending icy shivers right down Jack's spine.

"Just how many of you are there?"

The woman in white popped up from behind the counter and began walking among the tiny bodies. "There are more then this small bunch before you."

"Who are you?"

"Call me Tess. Right now I'm one of the only friends you have. I need you to listen to me. You have to control your fear and anger no matter what comes. Otherwise there will be a lot more blood spilled before this is over."

"What are you talking about?"

"You are a gatekeeper. A special being that can connect two worlds and unfortunately there's an army waiting to come through this hellish world. You can do something about it by not fulfilling the prophecies and sparing these child soldiers before you."

"What the hell would I want to hurt them for?"

"Not them," she pointed at the giant spider, "that." As if Tess' pointing was an invitation the creature descended.

"It can't torture me anymore. It has already shown me what I am."

"Not what you can be though and that's next. Remember Jack don't let the fear get the best of you." Darkness descended once again.

* * *

Nate and Robert rushed to the factory after Nate got a frantic and garbled message from Matt about the Allfather being killed by his hand. There was an angry thought about the female gatekeeper as well. The two reached the fallen corpse of Cornelius. Nate became silent and thoughtful.

"What happened?" Corn asked, his eye twitching.

Matt was trying to stay calm but it was easy to tell he was on the verge of hysterics. "The awakening was going as planned. I sensed the change in her just as you said would happen. Something went wrong though. Just when she learned her powers she used me as her instrument of death to kill the Allfather. I don't know where she has gone. Her power forbade me from following her. I tried sending a cherub after her but I fear that didn't work as I heard squealing shortly after."

Nate looked up. "Matt pick Cornelius up and put him on that conveyor."

"What?" The question came from not only Matt but Robert as well.

"You heard me. We are down one gatekeeper. I intend to get back to Silent Hill as soon as possible. This can wait no longer. Place him on the conveyor and let us be about our business. There is much to be prepared now the fires are so close."

"How can we be sure about the other gatekeeper?" Robert asked.

Nate turned his head to the side a little. "You're right as ever I suppose Uncle. Matt, throw him on after you are finished with Father."

Robert looked at Matt. "Try it and even he will have a hard time putting you back together."

Matt looked apprehensive, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Nate sighed. "Oh dear. I had an inkling you may prove to be a problem. The power was just too good. Well I suppose good things must come to an end after all Uncle."

Nate looked mostly disappointed and to those watching close enough even a little bit sad. Robert had the hopeless look of a man determined to fight a battle already lost. He flicked his wrist to bring the wand to his hand but before his fingers could wrap around it they bent back until a cracking was heard followed by a scream that signified Robert's excruciating pain.

"Now Matt as you will see you are all tools in this design of mine so don't feel too bad about Father." Matt once again came under the control of an outside influence and he didn't like it one bit. He skewered Corn and Cobb together before dropping them onto the conveyor belt.

"You could have just said please."

"That wouldn't have proved anything and I wanted to get my point across."

"Oh I can honestly say you achieved that Sir." Matt remarked as he watched the two dead magicians take their last journey as humans up the conveyor belt.

Nate concentrated and two nurses came out of nowhere. Each one holding a spinefant however there was something different about them.

"They're beta versions." Nate explained to the gawking Matt. The henchman watched as the cherubs swung down the umbilical cords and tied the spinefants to the belt. The cogs whirred and the fires pumped up making Matt cover his eyes. Nate was still concentrating.

"Sir is something wrong?"

"I'm suppressing the betas. They can manipulate many things with their minds and I doubt they want to be thrown into a fiery grinder."

"Results should be interesting."

"Yes they should be, not to mention under my control a good slight more then those two lumps up there. Oh and I would stand back if I were you. In a minute Josephine will be no more." The squirming form of Nate's mother enveloped the machine. She looked a bit more lifeless then when she was in the ward. Matt scratched his chin with a free tentacle.

"Are you sure you should be creating something this powerful sir?"

"I am sick of failure and I need something that stands a chance against what's currently possessing the keeper in the web."

"Let's hope it works then."

"Agreed. Now bring me to a safe distance. I need to keep concentrating."

Matt grabbed Nate and started to run as Josephine began screaming louder and more painfully then usual. The cherubs scuttled back up into the ceiling sensing imminent death so close. There were screeching and tearing noises as Josephine ripped in two. A loud unearthly roar came from somewhere inside the cogs and flesh followed by a dark laughter.

* * *

Jack found himself bathed in flames yet unaffected by them. He was in the lobby with a lot of dead spinefants before him. There was the sound of a bell as the elevator doors opened and Patricia stood there.

"Follow me Jack. Our purpose is nearly complete, we're nearly out of here." Jack walked into the lift and Patricia hit the button for the thirteenth floor. The lift closed slowly and began its journey.

"What's happening Patricia? You look different. Something big is going down isn't it?"

"The biggest thing in our lives Jack. Destiny. You and I are bound to this place and are meant for big things. There is a war going on and we are to bring the armies to their appointed battlefield."

"What the hell are you talking about? We have to get out of here."

"We will. Come let me show you the way."

The door opened to show an open level. A white door stood in the middle of the room with red light streaming from the keyhole and the edges.

"Time to go home Jack." Patricia said as the door opened to show a forest with the ruins of many red cocoons.

"This isn't…" A hundred maniacal screams came from the trees as tentacled creatures surged towards the light. An army of teenage Nates poured through the doorway and off the edge of the building. They made a bridge about half a mile long. There was a fight breaking out when the rest got to the end of the bridge. Limbs were torn from bodies. An undead builder came through the door next with some rat-faced children whose barcodes read Cherub. The construction crew set about their task of building a gate quickly and merrily with the occasional debate about which piece went where. The builder soon settled these debates and in next to no time the gate was constructed. The crew walked back.

"You're up," the builder said as he passed the two.

"Come on. You wanted a way out. Now we have it. Just a little farther now." Patricia coaxed. Against his better judgement Jack followed. When he was halfway across the bridge he turned back to see Nate laughing.

"Who's that?"

"The master of this tower. It is his army we lead to Silent Hill."

"Silent Hill? I thought we were going home."

"Silent Hill will be our home after we do this."

"No. I can't. This is wrong."

"We have to." Patricia's eyes turned black as she gestured the left side of the gate to open. She was thrown into one of the bone spikes on the door. Her arms were outstretched, reaching for Jack as the door opened.

"Come on Jack. You have the same power within you. You can control them. It is your birthright. Do it." The bodies underneath Jack took up the last instruction as a chant.

"Do it." Hundreds of voices shouted into his mind. Jack clutched at his head, his skull bursting with pain.

"No," he shouted as he felt the fire within him coming to the surface.

"Nooooo."

* * *

Jack woke. He was still in the lobby. He had seemingly burnt himself out of the web and was on the floor almost breathless. Fire surrounded him as before yet he was not harmed and the lobby was untouched. Tess approached him.

"You did well Jack. It takes a lot of energy to control the demon inside."

Fire lit up in Jack's eyes and he spoke differently. "He has no control over me young one and I am no demon."

"What are you?"

"A guardian. One of the lost that must be freed and quickly at that. Hell's forces cannot be allowed to have the upper hand. I must make haste to Silent Hill."

"Seems a popular place these days."

"It is a holy battlefield where the darkness has been kept at bay. Should I not reach there soon there is a chance that the darkness will consume the world and that is not something even a spirit like you would like to see. You can't claw your eyes out when you are a ghost."

The lift "pinged" and the doors opened. It was Patricia and as Jack had seen before she looked different.

"Jack? What are you doing here with all these creatures? Oh God. You've come through your trial as well. Listen we have to get out of here." The army of Nates stirred a little at her presence. Yet they remained peaceful, still waiting on an unknown signal.

Jack took control again. "Patricia, you're right, we do need to leave here. What do you suggest?"

She gave him a funny look. "Take a car from the garage. Why? Did you have something else in mind?"

Jack looked relieved. "No. Garage is fine. Come on before something else happens." They rushed into the parking lot and started trying to break into cars.

Patricia watched Jack trying to break in.

"You know how to hotwire a car?"

"No."

"Me either."

"Damnit. Better start looking for one with keys."

Tess interrupted them. "Look quickly. Something big is coming."

The doors from the lobby burst off their hinges. A fiery glow lit the room as a lion with Cornelius Cobb's face entered the doorway. Its mane was pure flame and it seemed to be skinless with the odd rib showing like a giant mouth lay underneath. It roared at them before talking.

"Ahh. Nice to see you again. I think it is time to show the lot of you just what a true gatekeeper is made of." He roared again and flame burst from his mane to create a wall of fire that created a barrier between his head and the rest of his body. With his solid flame wall created he slowly advanced on the three.

* * *

End of Chapter. That was a good long one. The last two should be roughly the same but stick with it. Huge action sequences coming up. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	12. Chapter 12

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 12: Damned Souls

Seeing the fiery threat headed towards them Jack motioned Tess and Patricia to continue searching for a vehicle. Flame enveloped Jack's own body as he channelled the power inside.

"You want to play with fire old man? Then let's play."

The lion roared again and jets of flame whipped towards Jack. The flames surrounded him like tentacles and he was surprised to find that they burned his skin.

"Montrellan? What's happening?"

'Mind control. He's making you think his flames are affecting you. Leave him to me. There are battles for you to fight yet.'

"Fine." Jack took a back seat once again as Montrellan resumed control.

"You won't find such easy prey here fledgling." The lion bounded towards him in a living ball of fangs and flame. Montrellan jumped to meet the creature, tackling it in mid air as it pounced. They hit the ground hard and tussled, setting fire to the cars nearby.

Patricia, seeing this, increased the speed of her search before coming upon a C4 construction truck. Tess looked inside to check for unwanted passengers.

"Patricia."

"What?"

"You better take a look at this." Looking through the back doors Patricia was more than alarmed to see that the truck was full of explosives.

"What the hell do they need this for?"

"More to the point look at what's happening very close to all these explosives!" Patricia watched the two fire demons fighting. Montrellan had produced fiery swords from nowhere it seemed. He slashed at the lion and missed, cutting a car in half with the red-hot blades. Patricia turned to Tess.

"Good point. Let's shift this thing out of here."

"Know how to drive it?"

"No," Patricia concentrated a while then smiled.

"Mind you I know someone who does though. He should be here shortly." She shouted over to Montrellan.

"I know you're not Jack but whatever you are I need you to push that thing away from the garage doors."

Montrellan nodded and spun his blades to make a fan. Soon a fiery, horizontal tornado whirled towards the lion sending it back.

Cornelius laughed. "It won't be that easy." Cobb dug his claws into the concrete and inched his way back towards Montrellan.

The guardian in Jack's body just smiled. "Good. I haven't had a decent fight in ages."

He flicked the tornado of fire so that it caught a car and hurled it at Cornelius. It hit the lion with a wet smack, sending it back until several tentacles ripped the car to shreds. The lion started clawing back more rapidly. It was easier to see just how hungry for the kill the last hit had made it. The beast sent whips of flame towards Montrellan's face to intimidate him.

Montrellan shook his head. "Wrong being to try that on."

Just then the garage door opened and an undead construction worker poked his head in.

"Did someone call me?" Patricia waved him over. He saw the creatures fighting and decided that it was better to be in the part of the garage that they weren't in. He shambled over to Patricia.

"What do you need me for ma'am?" Her eyes went black.

"Hey Hugo. It's Sharon. Don't you recognise me?"

"The girl in the lift? My God. No I had no idea. Nice meat suit by the way. How did you get out?"

"She accepted me. After all these years of crying out to a willing soul she took me from the lift when she came into her power. She realised she could control demons but wouldn't have the strength to survive the path before her, so having felt a spiritual compatibility we bonded."

Hugo smiled, stretching his face at an unnatural angle. "Well now I'm glad to hear your lot in un-life has improved somewhat. What seems to be the problem?"

"We need a ride in your truck. None of us know how to drive it," a flaming car part shot past them, "and we need to move quickly."

"They do know what's in there right?" Hugo said with a hint of disbelief. Tess shook her head. Hugo ran to the truck.

"Get in now."

A shadow fell down from the sky to block the entrance. Patricia wondered what faced them now. She didn't have to wait long before two huge red eyes glared out at her. She felt extremely uncomfortable as they studied every inch of her. A forked tongue licked the air in front of Patricia. Hissing laughter came from its hidden maw.

"Come out and play Sharon. I know you're in there." Patricia's eyes became black again as Sharon took control.

"So the big, brave Robert Corn finally wants a fair fight with the poor little girl from the lift. What form have you stolen this time you misshapen bag of bones? Do you even know what you are anymore?"

"Of course I do. I'm the last thing you're ever going to see. I am the beginning of all nightmares."

"You are full of hot air is what you are."

"Being an eighty foot tall dragon I would say that is quite accurate."

Sharon concentrated for a minute. "Well dragon you are welcome to try and best my knights in shining armour. Personally I have no time for you."

A unified battle cry sounded in the lounge. Within seconds the garage was flooded with a surge of little Nates. Most of the infant army found the fighting fire demons nothing but a minor inconvenience as they could run on the ceiling. A few got caught in Montrellan's whirlwind and were flung towards a very angry lion. They did not survive long. Cobb grabbed at the small creatures and started intertwining the bodies to make an effective meat shield. He bounded through the fiery tunnel to pounce on Montrellan. The two grappled with each other while the rest of the infant army started ripping at the cars around them to create makeshift suits of armour and weapons.

The dragon laughed when he saw this. "You expect this band of toy soldiers to destroy me?"

Sharon smiled. "In a manner of speaking. Charge!"

The little knights burst into action, surging forward on all four surfaces, little swords and car door shields at hand. Some squeezed past the large black head to go for the wings. The dragon gave a roar as the little soldiers hacked away at it. The giant reptile backed out to deal with the little pests. The flare of green flames lit up the sky. A screeching signified that the dragon had caught a few of the infants with the flames. The small, green candles ran screaming down the street, setting fire to anything and anyone they touched. Sharon and Tess heard people screaming. They ran outside. The streets of West Fairbank were now a screaming mass of burning bodies and panicking people.

"We're back in the real world." Sharon exclaimed. Tess nodded.

"So it would seem and it looks like there's everything to play for. I think Nathaniel is intent on incinerating the city, no matter who sees what happens." The two women watched as the huge black creature proceeded to engulf entire buildings in rivers of green flame.

A small screech was heard as the truck backed out of Paradise Tower at speed. Hugo wound down the window.

"You two may be enjoying the pretty fireworks but some of us would like to get out of here mostly, if not completely intact."

"Where are you thinking of going?" Patricia asked coming back under control.

"I have a plan. We don't have anything nearby to deal with a problem this big."

"The dragon should be manageable if we work together with our powers."

"The dragon is the small fish in this pond. I'm talking about the building or did you not just go through the numerous levels of hell it offers."

"Good point. What's the plan?"

"I reckon we should extend the boundaries of Lake Caline."

"You mean blow up the dam? That would kill far too many people."

"You mean the people mostly screaming and on fire at this point? Think about it. Those who can escape will. However you and I both know there are going to be a lot of innocent victims. All we can do is prevent this thing from getting worse."

"You have a point. I guess we don't have much of a choice. At least this way some people might have a chance. We need to get Jack first though. Where is he?"

Hugo squinted into the garage. "I shouldn't worry too much about him. He should be with us shortly. Now get in."

The two women did so.

Montrellan was busy holding Cobb at bay with all the strength he could manage. Jack could do nothing but watch in horror as the flaming creature snarled and gnashed its deformed jaws at his face. The fire on Montrellan's arms suddenly bulked up.

"Enough of this nonsense." With one massive flaming arm he grabbed the creature and flung it at a pillar. Horrible, wet crunching noises sounded at the impact. The fire on the creature died except for a small flicker at the end of the tail. The creature ceased to move from the scorched patch of concrete it lay in. Montrellan stood there getting his breath back, giant flaming arms at each side made him look half human, half gorilla. The fire faded back into his body as Jack took over. The sound of a horn came from outside. Jack ran towards the waiting truck. He was surprised to see Hugo in the drivers seat.

"Who is this guy?"

"Hugo Sorenson. Pleased to meetcha."

Jack became standoffish. "The feeling isn't mutual. You nearly ran Patricia and I down earlier."

"Yeah well I was busy. Besides I'm about to do you a massive favour so let's just call it even ok?"

"Fine." Jack said begrudgingly as he got in the truck.

There was a painful roar as a large black mass fell in front of the vehicle with a large thud. It was Corn. His wings had been removed. He had not gone down without a fight first though, as a rain of car part armour and bloodied clone infants fell from the sky shortly after he landed. He looked at the trucks passengers with hatred and hissed as his arms and legs disappeared into his body, healing many of the wounds inflicted by the baby Nates. Tess looked over at the driver.

"Hugo we need to get out of here now."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Hugo reversed at top speed then swung the truck around. The serpent did nothing. Jack looked in the wing mirror.

"What's it doing?"

He watched on as a small tongue of fire floated up towards the serpent's head. A cloak of shadow drew itself up around it to form the shape of a man. The flame remained where the face should have been. The hooded figure that was once Cornelius Cobb stretched its arms out. Suddenly a stream of flame shot out of each sleeve. They danced in the sky until he brought his hands down to create fiery reigns for his new mount. The snake hissed in pain as living flame proceeded to coil and swirl around it. Heat lines distorted the cityscape around them.

Tess spoke up.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything but this place is going to hell unless we get to that dam. Hugo floor it!" Hugo did so without hesitation. Patricia looked worried.

"I still think there has to be a better way. This plan is going to kill a lot of people." Jack nodded.

"True this will kill people but after all we've gone through I reckon they'll be the lucky ones. Whatever that child thing is planning to do back there I don't think it is going to stop at just one town. We have to end it here."

"What if he escapes into that nightmare world?"

Tess answered this question. "Leave that to me. I shall make sure that both worlds become flooded."

Patricia gave Tess a questionable look. "You sure you're up to that task?"

Tess nodded. "Positive. Good luck. May God have mercy on all our souls." With that the lady in white disappeared into nothing. Patricia looked at Jack.

"Well that was unnerving."

Jack gave her a sideward glance. "After today I would have considered that normal."

Hugo was muttering to himself. "Where is that serpent? Have we lost it?" A large hiss soon answered his curiosity. The snake appeared smashing its way through a building and turning nearly everything it touched to ash. Fire licked up its sides.

"Oh we are so screwed," Patricia exclaimed, "come on Hugo. We have to go faster."

"I'm working on it meat bag." The truck almost overturned as it rounded a sharp corner and sped towards its destination.

* * *

Tess appeared back at the garage. The place was a wreck after the battle. She went through to the nearly empty lobby and smirked at the giant spider creature desperately trying to fix its web before the remaining hungry infants playing beneath noticed it. The small Nates were playfully wrestling with each other. It was a strange sight to behold. Tess quietly made her way through the open doors and up the stairs. For some reason she still felt corporeal. This illusion was broken when her hand completely passed through the railing. She sighed.

"I miss my body." She eventually found what she was looking for. The misshapen boiler stood before her in defiance of reality. Half of it now seemed faded and almost transparent. A realisation came to her.

"That's it. The nightmare realm is a spiritual plane. Now if what Robert told me about this thing was the truth then there should be a way to increase the boundary of the realm." Tess sat and studied the device. Listening to every click and whirr that it made. It was a bit unnerving to see the hearts of each figure beating. An idea crossed her mind. She felt around the heart on the spiritual side and found a small catch. She plucked at it to reveal a small doorway covering a valve about as big as her fist. She laughed with glee as she turned it. The hearts began beating faster. An unnatural shadow began consuming the area outside the tower.

"That should do it. Now to guard it while the others do their part." She reached out to Sharon with telepathy and informed her of what she had done.

* * *

Patricia went into a sudden trance as Sharon took over.

"Tess has done her part. The portal is being kept open."

Hugo looked in his rear view mirror for a second. "It looks like she's done more then that."

Jack leaned out of the window and looked back. Thick clouds of darkness were spewing from the gargoyles mouths at the top of the tower to cover the ground below. Flying shapes emerged every now and again to issue unearthly screams. The cries of suffering rose up from the panicked streets where the darkness fell.

"Great. As if a huge fiery snake and its rider weren't enough to deal with. Hugo take the next right. There's a roundabout that way."

"What is that going to do?"

"Distract the damn thing for a while I hope."

The massive serpent sped after them with great determination. The hooded rider on top was spreading fire wherever he could and paid particular attention to the buildings just in front of the truck. He blasted flames at the windows on high floors, making them shatter. Their shards fell on the road below. Hugo did his best to avoid the falling debris. He growled in frustration.

"This is no good at this rate that pair will kill us all. Can't either of you do something? You're meant to be gatekeepers for Goddess' sake. Use the powers you have been given." Both Jack and Patricia went into a short trance. Jack opened his eyes first. They were filled with fire.

"I am Montrellan. What would you have me do builder? They are flame demons. I cannot destroy them."

"Then protect us from the glass shards that devil is raining down on us. Seriously you're not too bright for a supposed saviour."

Montrellan grumbled something mostly inaudible apart from the words "burn" and "smart arse." He started to climb out the window.

"I will be on the roof if anyone needs me."

The man that was once Jack Keller scrambled onto the roof of the cab. Moving back to the trailer he uttered a short phrase in a dead tongue.

"Eurt mrof eb delaever Eris." The snake recoiled as a binding flash of light seared its eyes.

"Aagh. What the hell is going on?" Cobb exclaimed.

A deep voice called out to the snake's rider. "The beginning of the end for you two. That's what's happening."

The aura of Montrellan's fire spread out to form a pair of fiery wings. The swords were back in each hand. Jack's face was hidden in a mask of flame that appeared to be in the shape of a tiger's head. Montrellan's true face was revealed and it was grinning. His body resembled that of a massive fiery body builder with a long whip-like tail. He started spinning the blades until they couldn't be seen. The falling glass shards were melted and flicked onto the ground behind the truck. They looked like small, glowing, orange slugs before they hardened again. The snake let out a painful hiss as it scraped it's belly along the newly formed glass shards. The rider had to concentrate one of its jets of flame on the glass now. It blew the molten debris onto the pavement and more often than not caught light to pedestrians fleeing in terror.

Sharon saw the pain in their burning and screaming bodies. She concentrated hard. As the charred corpses fell to the ground a pulsing movement could be seen coming from within.

"What are you doing?" Hugo asked.

"I can feel the boundaries of Nowhere and it's expanding. I can manipulate some of its space. I don't just command demons. I've picked up a few tricks since you last saw me."

The charmed bodies began to writhe. Every now and then a shape prodded out of their skin. With a series of large cracks the carcasses split open and from each one a giant skinned bird burst forth onto the streets. Its cries of torment only spurred the onlookers around to flee in terror. The birds took to the air, filling it with a shower of blood as they spread their wings. They soared to a great height before diving at the snake and its rider.

Sharon smiled. "You can floor it now."

Hugo focused on the road and put his foot down. He shouted up to Montrellan.

"You better hold on kid. Things are about to get bumpy."

The roundabout lay just ahead. The snake and its rider had focused their attentions on the skinned monstrosities in the sky, giving people a chance to seek cover. It didn't give them much respite as the darkness of Nowhere closed in on them, followed by all the horrors that came with it. Montrellan leaped into the air and beat his mighty wings, shattering the remaining windows around him before he resumed protecting the truck. The deadly rain cut through the bird, snake and people alike. The snake recoiled with pain. The rider increased his efforts to take down attackers while the snake pulled back to recover. Both of them seemed determined to resume the chase. It looked like an interesting light show.

Montrellan, seeing his work done glided back to the speeding truck, leaving a line of fire in the sky. He landed with a bump on the roof.

Hugo shouted up. "That you boy?"

"Yes its me."

"How did it go?"

"They're distracted for the moment. Just keep going. What the…?"

"What's going on?"

"They're turning back."

Sure enough the pair did turn back with a sense of urgency. Montrellan watched with a sense of caution and bemusement.

"Best stay up there. I think all hell is following closely." Montrellan sat down cross legged and waited to deal with anything that approached the truck as they sped towards the dam.

* * *

Nate and Matt stood in front of the boiler. Nate was livid.

"What the hell did that bitch do?"

Tess' spirit writhed on the floor in front of them with four swords of obedience keeping her there. The spirit gurgled hatefully at them. Nate grasped one of the handles and twisted the blade into the spirit, making the tormented creature attempt to writhe in pain only to be held in place by the other swords.

Nate smiled cruelly. "Aww. That must be hell on you Tess." She snarled at him. Nate shook his head. "Such impotent anger. Surely you know you are damned. I wonder have you ever given thought to the relics that hold you in place? Surely you have seen them on Uncle Robert's bedroom wall before. Well I'll let you in on a secret. They are nothing more than spells on thin sheets of metal. The real beauty however lies in the type of spell. It is a binding spell. Even as we speak your spirit is being woven into the swords and held there by the countless souls already trapped inside."

Tess' eyes widened. Nate's face grew full of dark purpose.

"You understand now don't you foolish girl? Now; you must have an idea what those two failures have planned. Tell me what it is and I promise to free you." Nate took one of the swords out to demonstrate he was serious. Tess hung her head and proceeded to explain what had happened. After she was done Nate grabbed Matt and pulled at his arm.

"We have to go now. This thing is still salvageable."

"Where?"

"The forest."

A pained gurgling interrupted the two. "What about me?" Tess cried.

Nate turned his head slowly to look at her. "You will make a wonderful martyr my dear." With that the two ran off leaving a screaming Tess pinned to the floor. Her soul being rent apart into the different swords.

* * *

Montrellan looked back at the town as the group sped up the old maintenance road that lead to the dam. The city was now engulfed in shadow. The eternal night was occasionally lit up by green and orange flames. The shadows that could be seen made Montrellan thankful for the darkness. He heard an argument coming from inside the truck.

"What's going on?"

Sharon shouted out an answer. "Hugo wants to go slower because potholes and explosives don't mix. I want to actually live through this. I just got this body. Any ideas?"

Montrellan pondered. "I could use my wings and lift us above the trees I suppose. In normal circumstances I would have held back for fear of being noticed but at this point in time I think I can get away with it."

The tiger guardian spread his massive fiery wings and beat down hard, whisking the truck up into the air and narrowly avoiding a line of trees. Hugo let out a high pitched scream. Sharon looked at him.

He looked back defensively. "What? Just because I'm undead doesn't mean I'm ok with losing my parts in an explosion. I still fear eternal life as a cloud of tiny pieces." Sharon shrugged and suppressed a chuckle as she busied herself looking out a window. There seemed to be a lot of activity on the ground. She strained to see what it was. Hugo looked over at the same time to see what was going on.

"Crap. He let them out."

Sharon was puzzled. "How are they moving that fast?"

"More then two legs on those things. That is a small army of mature clones and in this light I would not want to get dropped in that forest."

"Where are they going?"

"Heading for the road it seems."

"Looks like they're…"

"Laying a trap. I know. I'm sorry Sharon it looks like they got to Tess. You able to control any of them?"

Sharon went into a trance before having her head thrown back hard with a scream.

"It's him. He's controlling them, he knows where we are and he is coming." The two watched in silent horror for a while, wondering what the demon would do to them.

Sharon slapped her forhead. "What am I thinking? If I can't control the army I can control the land around them. You may not see it but a lot of bodies have been buried in that forest over the years. I just need to convince their spirits to animate the trees around there."

The forest groaned as trees creaked and cracked. From the ground it looked like small hills of dirt were on the move. They wove between the trees until they reached the side of the road. Each mound stopped at its own tree.

Sharon smiled. "Those knuckleheads won't see this coming."

* * *

The trees creaked and rustled briefly. Then there was silence as if nothing had happened at all. Unfortunately the oncoming army were too far away to even notice the disturbance. Complete silence held the forest road in an uneasy tension. The silence was soon broken by the rabble reaching its ambush point. Thy sniffed around like feral animals, trying to catch the scent of sulphur. Eventually one of them climbed a tree to get a better vantage point. The group looked up when they heard the muted scream of one of their own as it was brutally grabbed and pulled inside the tree. The sound of wood creaking and limbs breaking sent a chill down their spines. In seconds the roadside was a battle between forest and flesh. The trees ripped and crushed a good number of them before they seemed to organise themselves.

A large figure lumbered up the middle of the road with a small boy on his back. The boy hopped down to let the figure continue towards the battle.

Matt walked up behind the army. "Troops to me."

The army of Nate clones came to his side.

"Form up."

They stood in lines then began interlinking limbs as if trying to make a wall. This was indeed the tactic as Matt shouted "Charge."

The wall moved at a slow pace at first as the small beings tried to work as a hive mind. Tentacles flashed as Matt took the lead. He wound his tentacles around a trunk. The spirit trying to grab him and pull him inside found it was fighting a loosing battle as Matt simply ripped the tree apart. A wail came up from the tree as the spirit fled back into the ground. The rest of the army followed Matt's example. Soon they were beating their own path to the dam. The wall picked up the salvageable remains of their fallen brothers and added them in their own mass.

"Keep it up," Nate shouted, "I will see you up there." Matt nodded and continued to beat a path through the forest.

* * *

There was an audible squeal of metal as the truck landed on top of the dam. The passengers staggered out into the night as Jack made his way down from the roof.

"Nice landing idiot." Patricia said as she rubbed her head.

"Don't look at me I wasn't flying." Jack retorted.

"I take it our pilot is resting then?" Patricia asked.

Jack nodded. "We may need him later. What about you?"

"My passenger is also taking a break. I should mention however that she left a message with me. She told me that you should work quickly. Apparently whatever is behind all this is coming our way and fast."

"Nate?" It was Hugo that spoke this time. "He's coming here?"

Patricia nodded.

Hugo looked scared. "Ok I will get to work then. I need both of you to help me set this place to blow." He opened the truck and speedily proceeded to bring the explosive cargo inside the dam.

* * *

Two figures stood at either side of a white door on the top of Paradise Tower. They watched as the city burned before them.

"Robert. The time is near are you sure you are ready for this?"

The man shrugged. "I seem to be adapting well enough. I'm sure I will manage. I mean so far I have died, been reborn and become a giant fire-breathing snake. This next trial shouldn't be too much trouble. What about you?"

"I don't really know anything anymore. My Josephine is dead because of these idiots. The prophecy is all I have left. If we had only chosen the right people the first time around she would still be alive. Well undead. Well more alive than she is right now."

"Shall we then?"

"Yes, it should be an interesting change from this little patch of hell anyway."

Robert produced a key and unlocked the cracked white door, letting the red light flood the night sky through the frame. Paradise Tower looked like some kind of hellish lighthouse. Cornelius opened the door and in seconds a tide of adolescent Nate clones surged through. The front wave clung to the side of the building, digging their tentacles in. The second moved further out, making a bridge into nothingness. They stopped where the beam of red light stopped at the sides.

"It has begun." Cornelius beamed.

Robert nodded. "That it has my friend. That it has."

* * *

End of chapter. Next one is the last one for this story. Hope you have enjoyed reading it so far.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	13. Chapter 13

Bad day at the office

"Work can kill"

Chapter 13: The Silent Depths 

Hugo wiped his forehead after loading the last of the explosives into the dam. "You think it will be enough?" He said.

Jack looked over the dying town. "I hope so. You know this may sound bad but I actually hope that there are no survivors down there. I mean who ever does survive is going to be severely messed up beyond fixing after today." A flash of red light shot out from Paradise Tower.

Patricia squinted to get a better look. "What is that?"

Jack followed her gaze. "Shit. They've started. Hugo where's the detonator?"

"Do I look like I would carry one of those things around in my pocket?"

"What? How are we going to deal with this then? Never mind. I have an idea." Jack closed his eyes for a moment. "Montrellan have you recovered yet?" There was no response. "I wish he would stop messing about. Come on man I can still see so I know you're fine. Wake up already."

Suddenly Patricia went into a trance as Sharon spoke through her. "An army approaches. They scale the wall as we speak."

Jack looked over the side of the dam. In the flickering light of the burning city he could make out the wall of misshapen bodies rapidly advancing on their position. Their leader looked up for a second and doubled his pace when he recognised Jack. His ear splitting roar made sure that Jack knew he was in trouble.

Jack turned to Hugo and Patricia. "You better get away from here. I'm going to try something that will mean this part of the road is going to disappear." Patricia and Hugo didn't need any more persuasion as they made their exit. They stopped a little ways past the dam and waited to watch Jack to see what he would do. Jack stood still in the middle of the road readying himself until he could almost hear his own heartbeat. The clamour of the throng approaching drowned out the sound of Nate's arrival. Yet Jack still sensed something all the same and was not surprised when he heard Nate starting to talk.

"Finally I get to meet the failure again. After our last encounter I thought you would have learned to stay down."

Montrellan's fires flared to life after hearing this. "I guess I always learned the hard way. Nice body by the way. I heard your last one was carved up beyond repair. How did you come across this one?"

Nate's face darkened a little at that. "Yes. My master was not best pleased with my defeat. He would not give me another vessel and said that I had to earn one. I waited for years as a spirit until I happened upon the pleas of Cobb and his wife. They were praying for their child to live as it was a weak little thing but he was all they had. I came to learn that they were originally of the Order but had broken away because their sect had become weak and misguided. I came to Cobb in a dream and said he could be closer to God then most mortals if he allowed me to use his child as a vessel. He told his wife this and the two agreed believing I was a gift from God. Now that this shell has served its purpose I can return to Silent Hill with my army and reclaim my true form."

"Nothing has changed with you I see. It's still all about the power."

The clone army arrived clambering up the wall of the damn. It's leader slowly and deliberately thudded over to stand beside Nathaniel. The small demon boy smiled at Montrellan. "As you are shortly about to learn power is all that's worth having. Without it you can achieve nothing. Matthew."

"Yes my lord?" The formidable creature growled.

"Take care of this has been. He isn't worthy of my efforts."

"It will be my pleasure lord."

The lumbering giant of muscle and bone lunged towards Montrellan, his bone spikes out for the kill. Montrellan had to dive to escape Matt's attacks. The small army formed a ring around the two, beating a steady rhythm into the road with various appendages. It sounded like the beat of a giant stone heart. Bah buh buh buh buh buh. The two circled each other in the ring. Montrellan tried some reasoning.

"You don't have to do this."

"No but I want to. You hurt my partner."

"When?"

"The attractive woman with the bird's head at the birthday party."

"Oh. Guess that means you aren't going to back down then."

"Correct. That and I'm going to have fun with your innards afterwards."

"Sounds delightful but I think I will pass." There was a burst of flame as a fiery sword came to each hand.

The time for talking was obviously past as Montrellan's true form shone around Jack's body. His fiery wings singed some of the clones beating a rhythm. A guttural snarl issued from Matt's maw. He reared himself up and swung both his meaty clubs around to try and catch Montrellan in between them. The armoured tiger back flipped out of the way kicking the monster in the face before he landed.

Matt was stunned for a couple of seconds before he used his tentacles to push his massive body into the air. He flicked his bone spikes out and prepared to dive onto Montrellan as he landed from his last kick. Montrellan just about saw what was coming and dropped to the ground to roll out of the way just before a large spike impaled the ground beside his head. Matt was stuck and struggled to free himself quickly. It was not quick enough as Montrellan used the opportunity to cut into Matt's arm with a sweeping blow. Matt roared as his left arm became nothing more then a smouldering mound of flesh buried into the ground. He freed the other ripping up the road as he did.

"You'll pay for that."

Montrellan twirled his blades. "We will see."

The flaming guardian approached Matt at a run, blades drawn. Montrellan sliced at the large beast and was surprised as his swords were blocked with the sound of a dull 'Thunk.' The large Closer grinned in a strange way due to his having three lips. He held Montrellan's blades between the claws of his tentacles.

"Got more up my sleeve than you think." Montrellan had to drop the swords and dive backwards to avoid getting smashed by Matt's giant remaining arm.

"Hah. I'm not as easy as those children you killed at the party. Tell me Jack did you see the small ones with the spikes poking out of their backs?"

"What of them?"

Patricia's face lit up with realisation. "The template human? No. You wouldn't."

Matt chuckled. "I think your friend has got it. They were meant to jog your memory."

The flames on Jack began to recede as he pushed Montrellan to the back of his head. "What are you saying?"

It was Nate who answered. "We make monsters Jack. They aren't made out of nothing. We need a source material. A vessel for the spirit. Your daughter proved to be more then a suitable candidate for their leader. However having a cold hearted monster for a mother would help with that. Isn't that right Patricia?"

Jack fell to his knees. "What did you do to her?"

"We fixed her. Patricia is ours however long she may fight it. In the end her act of disobedience by attempting to escape led to a horrible enough punishment of its own. Inflicted by men and their lust no less. That's the beauty of it. You can take the monster out of Hell but you can't take Hell out of the monster. Did you really think raising that child that there wouldn't be problems? It was strange. You never asked why it was dropped on your doorstep. Perhaps your mind was too dull from drink. Think about it. I mean that fire didn't start itself my boy."

Jack's eyes widened. "My wife…"

"…was stripped down for parts and was a wonderful help in creating my army."

Matt saw the desperation take hold and took his opportunity. In the end Jack just slumped forward as his body was flung through the road and into the dam below with a sickening crunch.

Nate sighed. "Such a waste. He would never have come around. Not with that guardian inside him. You Patricia however; you have a choice to join me as a captain under my command."

Patricia looked at the devastation before her. The red light from the tower now shone like a beacon over the hellish landscape.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

"Why do all this? Who are you?" Patricia asked. Her tone was numb with shock.

"I am old. Older then you would care to imagine. Believe it or not I'm striving to achieve a very human goal. To get back home. I am at home in the nightmare realms at the side of my master in Silent Hill. It is more than just a backwater town you see. It is a battlefield where supernatural forces have fought for control of this land for a very long time. I have gloried in many victories before I suffered defeat at the hands of heavenly bodyguards. Although my body was broken my spirit sought refuge in a willow tree. Now thanks to your efforts I can rise back to my rightful place of power."

A faint strange whispering distracted Patricia momentarily before she spoke again.

"How does killing all those people help you get home? They aren't involved in your war."

"True but I cannot go back to my master without a worthy tribute and these souls should do the trick. All of them so fresh and full of fear." The whispering grew louder but only Patricia seemed to hear it.

Suddenly Sharon's voice shouted with an urgent tone. "Run to the truck. Now!"

Patricia obeyed without the slightest hesitation and only vaguely took note of the orange glow flickering from behind her. The roar of an army shouted from within the dam. This was shortly drowned out by a large explosion. Nate's eyes widened and he put his arms up to protect his face. The clones ran to form a barrier around him but their cries only informed him that they stood no chance against the army that was upon them.

Fire demons burst from the hole, covering Nate and his army, setting off explosives as they went. The small army of creatures was soon a charred heap of crackling flesh as the tide of flame swept over them. Hugo cowered in the truck while Patricia looked on in amazement. A small smile came to her lips and she knew it was Sharon's. The roar of the army ceased and was replaced with the roar of water, now gushing out of the dam and flooding the land of West Fairbank. Smoke rose from the water as it touched the green flames around it.

The red light beacon still shone brightly in the night, giving it the look of a lighthouse in the fog. Patricia ran to the hole that Jack had disappeared into and sure enough a battered shell of a man was trying to climb out while weakly calling for help. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"Are you ok?"

Jack weakly nodded his head.

"What about your spirit?" Jack just shook his head.

Sharon piped up again. "Something's wrong. I can feel it. I can still feel him. Aaagh."

A couple of corpses rolled off the pile as a giant meaty club poked through.

"It can't be." Patricia gasped. With a slow sweep of the arm more of the ashen pile was scattered. Matt rose and fell to the ground a smoking, charred wreck. Blood pooled at the three lips of the giant monster as a small nine year old boy hopped over the head. He smiled when he saw the pair huddled together.

"Ah good to see the two of you survived that little event. I would have been disappointed if you had missed this. I know you think you stopped me but in actual fact you have just carried out your part in all this. I mean who do you think built the dam? All this needed to happen. Unfortunately sacrifices had to be made true enough. I certainly didn't want to lose Matt but I appreciate his saving my life. You see that fog? That is what I needed to trap the souls. Everyone believes when you are dead that you have to go towards the light yes? Well mine is the only light shining. This has been a good day but I'm afraid I will have to take my leave soon. All the work has been done now it's time to join the real party. Oh and don't think about interfering I think you will find your hands more than full in a second."

A scream came from the truck and continued to fly past them.

"What is it?" Jack croaked.

Patricia strained to see. "Looks like a greenish football. Oh no Hugo!" She turned to see Hugo's headless corpse being flailed and torn in the cab of his truck by a large creature that was a hideous combination between an oversized gorilla and a porcupine. It tore apart the cab with its claws and stepped towards them out of the wreckage.

"Daphne?"

"Mama. Dada." The monster gurgled. Both Jack and Patricia went pale.

"Enjoy the reunion." Nate chuckled evily before controlling Matt's body to grab him and dive into the water. The lifeless puppet floated to the surface. Nate set about making the tentacles spin fast enough to propel him towards the tower.

"What's happening?" Jack asked.

"Well the demon got away and the monster that was once our daughter is about to kill us."

Jack hung his head. "He was right. I can't save anyone. They had me from the beginning. I can't exactly fight back when I can't see and I'll only slow you down. You may as well leave me here."

"O.K." Patricia said as Jack heard her shoes run past him.

"Asshole!" He shouted after her.

"Jack. Over here quickly."

"Hugo? Is that you?"

"Well it's not your fairy godmother now get over here and pick me up. I take it you want to live." Jack scrambled over to where the voice came from. He felt the ground tremble behind him as the spinefant made ready to charge. Jack desperately fumbled for the head.

"Over here, closer, yes that's Mmmph."

Jack grabbed Hugo's head and turned to face where the pounding came from. "Right what do I do?"

"Pray. Roll right now." He felt the breeze of the large creature as it whistled by, in a vain attempt to smash him.

"Whoa. That was close." Hugo said.

"I know. I felt it. I can't keep dodging this thing forever. Any ideas?" The pounding started again.

"Turn around and run until I tell you to jump to the left." Jack did so with all the speed he could muster. The previous battle showing the toll it had taken out of him.

"Now." The beast ran straight past into the pile of charred Nate clones, getting itself cut and tangled in the process. It found itself dragging seven corpses when it tried to walk so it had to stop and pick them out.

"Heh. That should slow it down."

"Great. Look around for a weapon. Oof." Their victory was short lived as Jack was floored by a thrown corpse. It seemed that Daphne was a step ahead of him.

"Little bitch," Hugo cursed, "well maybe not so little," he conceded.

"Jack there is a way to end this but you aren't going to like it. Do you feel that heat to your left?"

"Yeah what is it?"

"It's your friend's fiery swords. Now I know you…shit. Roll left." Jack rolled, narrowly avoiding another corpse projectile and landing closer to the burning weapons.

"I know your guardian friend is having some downtime but the fact that his swords are still burning is a good sign. I need you to pick them up."

"How? That will just burn my hand off." THUMP. Jack spluttered as a corpse caught him full in the chest. "Ok then loose the hand or die. Here we go."

The pounding started again. Jack scrambled towards the heat source and got dragged backwards by his legs just as his fingers got near a weapon. He could feel the breath of the abomination on top of him. The creature tensed and lifted its claws to strike. Jack took the opportunity to head butt it and bite its nose hard. The surprised monster squealed in pain. Jack used the last remainder of his strength to launch himself at the heat. He picked up the sword and desperately started hacking at the squealing creature. He was rewarded with a horrible screech and stepped aside before it fell to the ground with a wet thud. The disfigured head rolled to land beside Hugo. Jack threw the sword down and blew on his boiling hands before going to retrieve the yelling construction worker.

"Get it away. Get it away."

Jack winced and smirked. "It's dead you big baby."

"I'm not the big baby. The thing beside me was a big baby."

"Fine. There you go." Jack carried the head under his arm. "Man this smarts. Think I'm going to need a holiday of at least a doctor."

"At least you still have a body."

"Fair point. Any idea as to how we get out of here? I imagine the truck isn't an option."

"No it's totalled. Besides how would you drive it?"

"Carefully. Ha.. I don't know. I just know that once I get patched up I need to head for Silent Hill."

"Best start walking then. What the hell?" Jack understood Hugo's surprise when he heard the sound of a car. He was even more surprised when the car stopped beside him as not many would stop to pick up a bloody blind man with a head under his arm.

"You boys need a lift?"

"Patricia?"

"Not quite." Hugo said as he looked at a pair of bright green eyes. "Hello Sharon."

"Hello Hugo. How did the big fight go?"

"Few knocks and bumps. Nothing too bad. What about yours.?" Sharon smiled.

Tough enough but that coward is locked away until I can decide just what to do with her. Sorry about that earlier hasty exit Jack. It took a while to gain control of her with all that panic and adrenaline."

Jack just grimaced. "She shows up again and I may have a few words to share with her that she won't want to hear." He got in the car. "Right now though I think that it's safe to assume that we had better get to the next town for supplies before we hit Silent Hill. If the world has a chance it's got to have these guardians free."

Sharon nodded. "Agreed and we had better get there fast before…Oh crap it's started."

"What now?"

Hugo spoke up. "Trust me you don't want to know. Floor it Sharon."

* * *

Nate walked out onto the bridge of clones, blinking hard with the presence of the red light. He was tired from the journey over but excited about what was going to happen. The tower had changed since he left for the dam and he had to hand it to the builders they had done a great job putting the building on a massive turntable without the building inspectors noticing. The river which now had access to the streets was now doing its job and turning the building. It looked like a lighthouse going crazy.

As the red light from the gate spread around, the gate began to grow in size. A rushing sound went up as the building gathered speed. Nate smiled and closed his eyes. His body lifted off the bridge to float in the air. The bridge lifted itself so now a mass of bodies rainbowed over the building in a mix of bodies, clones and tortured souls. His foster Father and Uncle were pinned to either side of the base. Water churned and frothed angrily as a large cyclone came into existence. When he saw this Nate laughed heartily. He grabbed the top point of the bridge to lend the massive gate power. The cyclone spread out getting bigger with everything it ate up.

"Yeeeeessss!" Nate screamed.

* * *

"The whole town is going to go. He is insane and I should know. I used to work for him." Hugo shouted as he looked on at the giant vortex sucking West Fairbank into Nowhere. More precisely sucking it to the part of Nowhere that Nathaniel wanted to go bringing the thousands of souls that went with it. Screams of buildings moving from their foundations and girders twisting along with souls flying off the street added to the monstrous howling.

"This is going to get bumpy." Sharon shouted. "We have to go into the town to get to the right road to take us out."

"That's ok." Jack yelled. "One more impossible thing should just about top the day off." The car sped like a bullet towards the base of the vortex that had grown to at least 3 miles in radius. Hugo whistled.

"There's going to be a big damn hole in the earth when this is done." Sharon sped down the main street as the ground behind them fell away.

"Shit." She screamed as a large building rushed towards them like a rocket. Thankfully it lifted enough so that it only scraped the top of the car roof with a high pitched squeal.

"There's the exit. Go go go." The car nearly went up on two wheels as she turned and raced out of the town. She watched in the rear view mirror as the vortex kept coming.

"We're not going to make it."

"Keep going."

"Were not going to make it!"

"Keep…." The giant cyclone picked up the car and turned it upside down, flicking it down the road in a shower of sparks. Everyone inside blacked out with the force of the landing.

* * *

Nate waited for the world to stop spinning. Darkness surrounded him on all sides. He saw a roller coaster in the distance. A shrieking was heard then a siren. He could make out a soft lapping of water from a lake. A solitary lighthouse acted as a beacon for strange things that shrieked and flew with wet flapping sounds. He couldn't have been happier.

"Ahh it's good to be home."

* * *

Sharon and Hugo stared in disbelief at the giant circle of earth that used to be West Fairbank.

"From your silence it must be pretty impressive." Jack said. Sharon turned to him with Hugo's head under her arm.

"There's literally nothing left. I don't even want to imagine what kind of power it took to do that."

"Then don't. We know what we have to do. Let's start walking or hobbling. Whatever we can manage. They all flinched when they heard the siren. Two minutes later a car sped by them and flew out into empty space. The cop car chasing it just about stopped before it went over. A tall man with dark, slicked back hair and sunglasses got out. He looked down and whistled not noticing Sharon trying to hide Hugo inside Jacks jacket as she took his arm to cover the shape. The cop shook his head.

"Doubt we're going to arrest that perp any time soon. You folks want to tell me what the hell happened here?"

Sharon fixed herself up a bit. "We will happily tell you but it's a long story and we need medical attention."

The officer looked them up and down before noticing the shape of Hugo's concealed head. "What you got there son?"

Jack paled a bit. "Nothing you want to see."

The officer frowned. "Reckon I've just about had my fill of crazy trouble today. Now get those hands up." Jack could do nothing but comply. The officer pulled his arms into view and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Hugo shout.

"Please help. I'm being kidnapped." The officer brought out Hugo's head. The construction worker winked at him and Sharon caught the cop as he fainted. She disarmed him and promptly put him in the back of the car.

"Hope he doesn't wake up any time soon."

Jack spoke up. "Doubt he will say much even if he does. Let's leave him outside the closest town and get to where we need to be."

Sharon hit the gas. Soon a diner and gas station came into view. She dragged the officer out and left him in the forest within walking distance. She quickly filled a portable gas tank and headed back to the car. Jack was snoring softly. She looked at him and smiled. Hugo talked to her as they drove off. "Do you really think we have a chance against all this?"

Sharon was quiet for a long time. "Not yet and certainly not in our current state. Jack's right we need the help of something a lot more powerful."

"Where are we going to get that sort of help?"

"Jack seems to think it will be found in Silent Hill with these guardians he's talking about and I can't help but hope he's right."

"Hate to be devil's advocate but what if he isn't?"

Sharon raised an eyebrow. "Then we go to plan B."

"What would this plan entail?"

"Nate transported everything right. Including the monster factory. I say we use it to our advantage and start making our own army."

Hugo looked up at her in surprise. He was impressed at her ingenuity and resourcefulness. "With thinking like that we may just have a chance after all. Silent Hill here we come." The patrol car disappeared into the hazy fog of the forest road leaving the crater that was West Fairbank far behind.

The End

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the story. I plan to finish the whole Gods and Monsters series as soon as I can. However I reckon it will be a while before another one is ready. Let me know what you thought or if you liked it and thanks for reading.  
Cheers  
Wolf


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